The Story of Summer
by DaughterofDin
Summary: If the triforce was broken up, who ever touched the triforce got the piece they represented best. It was decided who would recieve the other 2 pieces. What if the one who touched the triforce didn't recieve power? Who was picked to get the piece if it was sent out? It isn't Ganondorf. This is the tale of that other person. This isn't The Legend of Zelda, it's The Story of Summer.
1. Prolog

**Authors Note (does not directly affect the story but it's appreciated if you read this): well I uploaded some of this story before, but I took it down to do some more work on it. The last version was terrible and the main character seemed to much of a mary sue (I swear she is not, I have worked very hard on her development, personality as well as have done much research for her.). This version I hope is MUCH better. This story does not however have too much of an original plot, it instead follows the games plot. But it does flesh it out a bit, change a few words, add stuff, new characters, puts it in text form, and builds off an idea I had. It also fixes some inconsistencies, and there is some shipping. Thank you for reading this bit here, and I usually do an author note before the start like this and a small one after.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda or any of the cannon plot and characters. The Legend of Zelda franchise belongs to Nintendo. This is a fan story, and is gaining no profit. The only thing owned by the writer of this story is any original characters, and original plots created by the writer.**

* * *

**The Story of Summer**

Prolog

"I believe I have finally decided…." The owner of the stone voice set a bouquet of tacky, unmatched flowers upon the chilled stone.

"Blunt I know, but I had to get that out before I exploded. Happy Birthday. I'll tell you all about my choice in a moment… but do you like the flowers? The kids have worked really hard lately too you know. They have been a great help. They did the best they could and I just put them together and tied it with an old scarf. They actually wanted to use one of every plant but a few of them are really just seeds. So I just picked out your favorite ones." There was a void of noise after that. He gazed upon the marker stone in a mournful, peaceful silence.

The bouquet was a strange assortment florists around the world would cringe in terror at, but those who knew the meaning of each flower knew that the assortment was a simple but touching tribute.

He looked at each flower again. The heart-shaped bud, the lone bright purple flower that was heavy enough to make the stem droop, the cloudy bulb, the flower with screaming to be seen pink with light humbler shades of pink on the petal tips, the Siamese twins deep blue flowers attached to the same stem and fighting to stay upright and beat its sibling, the cluster of apple blossoms, the bloody scarlet flower, and one that looked like the embodiment of a golden sunset looking one, all tied together by a ragged red scarf. It would be the thought of by most people that this bouquet was put together by a kinder gardener.

"I know you well enough to know that you would like it." The voice cracked and it was not long till the owner was flicking tears off their cheeks and holding back a flood of them behind the dams that where eyelids and self-control. They instead let the silence settle around them like a warm welcomed blanket.

The breeze was dancing along causing the grass to wave back and the leaves on the trees began to conduct the complex chorus of the world around them. The voice looked up at the cotton puffed clouds taking their leisure daily stroll across the bright blue sky and they took a long deep breath.

"It's still the same… isn't it? Nothing has changed here except for us. It's still the exact same way as it has always been. How is it that we can stand in exactly the same spot and have absolutely nothing around us change yet we feel so drastically different ten the last time you were there?

"Time has not been good to us has it? No, it never has. It doesn't give anyone a break, but I suppose time is the fair one. It gives everyone the exact same thing. It's fate that really is evil. It gives some people all the breaks, and some people it just holds back while time goes along without them... because it must go on. Do you get what I mean? " The silence came back and the dams broke. With the flood of emotion came the flow of tears and with the flood of memories came the waves of nostalgia. It was quite easy to tell which was the lesser of the two evils. So the owner of the voice closed their eyes and remembered.

* * *

**Author's note (does not deal directly with the story but it's appreciated if you read this bit): This is only the Prolog and that's why it is so short. I promise the other chapters will be longer. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and giving the story a chance! I've put a lot of effort into this story, and it is my very first one I've ever done. I didn't say who the speaker was purposely (which is sorta obvious). I am still a very young and developing writer so advise and constructive criticism is very helpful (just please don't be mean or too harsh). If you have any questions or even suggestions for the story please comment and I will be sure to answer and respond to you at the beginning of the next chapter and consider all suggestions. I plan on doing a chapter deadline every sunday, so the new chapter will be up by that day no matter what. If I finish before that deadline I will upload it early. Thank you so much for reading my story and giving it a shot, I'm very thankful to you. I will never say that I wont upload the next chapter till I get a certain amount of reviews but if you review or comment I get very inspired to keep going and will probably write more. So I'd be very thankful for comments, but just reading this is great to! The next chapter deadline is 4-14-13 but I've already got most of it done so most likely before then. THANKS AGAIN!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Secret Cove

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda or any of the cannon plot and characters. The Legend of Zelda franchise belongs to Nintendo. This is a fan story, and is gaining no profit. The only thing owned by the writer of this story is any original characters, and original plots created by the writer.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The Secret Cove**

There is a tale from long ago passed down by through uncountable generations of Hylians. It tells of a war of unmatched ferocity and horror, the likes of which could never be seen again. One dark, fateful day, the land cracked wide revealing a hell lurking beneath the people of the surface's feet. Malevolent forces rushed forth from the fissure. They mounted a vicious assault upon the people and drove the land in a deep despair. They burnt the forests to ash, choked the land's sweet springs, sent the proud mountains to meaningless piles of dirt, and murdered without a second thought. The only thing they lacked in their brutal battle was mercy. The motive behind their madness was rooted in their lust to take the ultimate power protected by Her Grace, the sky goddess. Created by the gods, this power gave its holder the means to make any desire a reality. Such was the might of the ultimate power that the three gods had to place it the care of the goddess before it was too much for them and fell into the hands of the evil swarming the lands. The goddess gathered the surviving Hylians and placed them on a small chuck of land from the world. She sent it skyward closer to the eyes of the gods, it fit perfectly in the space above the clouds and below the heavens. With the sacred race safe she joined forces with the land dwellers and fought the evil forces, sealing them away. At last peace had been restored to the surface. This is the tale, passed down by the Hylians for many ages, generation to generation… But there are other legends intertwined with this tale, who failed the test of time and faded from memory. Now, a new legend bound to this great story stands ready to be revealed. A legend formed by the hands of a few youths.

* * *

"Shhh!" Nick hushed Zelda. She was trying her best to be quiet, but soon failed and started to giggle.

"Zelda, the trick is being like the shadows." Summer whispered.

"Like the shadows? How the hell does a good princess like you know that?" Link asked.

"When have I ever been known to be good? The castle guards are relentless in order to get anything done they demanded me to perfect my stealth skills." She whispered as they slipped out past Pipit.

"Shall we take a little detour to the water fall?" Link asked with a sly grin.

"Is there really any other way?" Zelda giggled.

"I don't know guys, Summer is a really crappy swimmer…" Nick hesitated.

"Oh come on, we did it as kids all the time. We can handle this, now don't worry yourself my boy. That's the queen's orders." Summer teased.

"You only just became the queen today." Zelda pointed out.  
"And you're already abusing your powers, not a good start Your Highness." Nick teased.

"I told you not to call me that!" Summer whisper yelled. "Besides I don't have any power until my father hands off the throne."

"Hey, last one to the top gets thrown off the falls." Link taunted and took off. Summer raced after followed by Nick and Zelda.

"It's a little chilly running around in bathing suits huh?" Summer shivered when they reached the top of the falls.

"You are always cold Summer." Zelda pointed out.

"And you are always hot." She fired back.

"So… who is going first?" Nick asked peering over the edge of the falls. His dark hair seemed more fitting for the night's adventures then his brother Link's blonde hair was.

"Well Zelda was last… and she is an amazing swimmer…" Link grinned wickedly. Zelda would've been fine with it, but that grin just gave her a nervous feeling.

"Please, I am the birthday girl. Let me show you guys how it's done." Summer scoffed.

"I'll go first!" Nick volunteered in Summer's place.

"Fine, go ahead." She waved her hand and stepped aside for him. She watched as he stepped back and ran off the falls, just like he was going to call for his mint colored loftwing. She rushed to the edge to watch his falling form crash against the still water. The water come up like a fountain after his body and Summer watched him swim under the rocks to their secret cove.

"Oh I so need to get a taste of this!" Summer rushed back to charge. She plummeted through the sharp night gales and broke the water's surface. She felt it rush over her like rain on a ducks body. She hurriedly (and very ungracefully) swam under the rocks to the cove.

Summer's fingers latched on the platform and she yanked herself to the surface. She could not hold her breath or swim elegantly for the life of her. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, but couldn't find Nick anywhere.

"Nick?" She called and climbed up to the solid ground. She pulled her hair tie out and fixed it as her eyes began to dash around wildly for him. Her brown ginger highlighted retained its boring flat self despite being soaked in water.

"Nick, this isn't funny! Where are you?" She croaked out.

When she turned her back Nick's head popped out of the water. He silently crept up behind her.

"Boo!" He grabbed her shoulders.

"AHH!" She spun around. "When the hell did you learn to be so good at sneaking?"

"I was like the shadows." He told her.

"You know you are the only one who can sneak up on me, and I trusted you to never abuse that power. Wasn't it you anyway who promised as a kid he'd never let anyone mess with me?" She crossed her arms and looked at him.

"And I don't, but someone has to keep you in line with that temper and big head of yours." He responded and she glared.

"Fine, I promise as an aspiring knight of Skyloft to use my power of stealth for good, and to never abuse it on Skyloft's citizens." He took her hand and went on a knee. He looked up at her with a twinkle look in his emerald eyes. She giggled and yanked her hand from him.

"You forget I'm not a normal Skyloft citizen. I'm royalty." She whispered, because somethings are better spoken softly.  
"You would love to forget it though." He pointed out.

"Where is Link and Zelda?" She asked, quick to change the subject.

"Oh Link is probably just trying to get some alone time with her." He shrugged.

"Do you remember all of us coming here as kids? It's so amazing we've stuck together so long…" Summer traced her fingers on the cave wall.

"I mean it's gone. I'm a queen today. You're an upperclassman, tomorrow Link is racing to become one…" She sighed. "I'm a nostalgia kind of girl."

"The brat pack has all grown up, huh?" He chuckled and rubbed his neck.

"You okay Nick? You seem a bit nervous." She touched his shaky hand.

"I'm fine!" He chuckled and they heard the water shatter as Zelda and then Link came to join them.

* * *

During their time there they messes around like they did when they where ten, but they mainly just reminisced. None of them wanted to leave though.

"It's late… me and Link will head back to the dorms." Zelda looked over at Summer's confused face and winked.

"Ah I see, okay then thanks!" Summer laughed and the two left.

"I wonder why they wanted to go back alone." Nick shifted on foot to foot.

"Just some more alone time." She shrugged.

They swam under the rocks and back to the outside city.

"What time do you suppose it is?" She asked as he pulled her up on shore with him.

"Now," He replied.

They snuck back into the dorms. Although they were less cautious then when they snuck out. They went to her dorm first and before she entered she turned around and faced Nick.

"Thanks for tonight Nick, it was my best birthday ever." She told him softly.

"Summer before you go in your room I-I need to tell you something." He told her and she turned back around to face him.

"Sure, what is it?" She asked hesitantly.

"I…" a million things flew into his head to say just then.

"Summer, I…" He was cut off.

"What do you two think you're doing up so late? And in swimsuits too. Do tell." Pipit held up his lantern to the two who were turning red.

"This so isn't what it looks like!" Summer jumped to say.

"We just went swimming for Summer's 17th birthday, come on cut us some slack." Nick pleaded.

"Well you've never gotten in trouble before… I'll let it pass once. If I see it again the punishment will be twice what it's supposed to be." He scolded. "And I'm not leaving till you are both back in your rooms under my watch."

"Fine, goodbye Summer. Happy birthday." He told her and she said her goodbyes and went into her dorm.

Summer slipped into her bed and closed her eyes. Another big day was in the plans for tomorrow and despite a million of things that could be going through her head, she was still innocent enough to be able to close her eyes and sleep.

* * *

**Author's note: Well I finally got this up, due to an error (which is pretty much me not saving) it took longer then planned. As usual comments and reviews are great motivators to get me writing more and if you have any questions, ideas, constructive criticism, or anything at all please leave a comment. If you have an idea or suggestion it maybe will get worked into the story! So please comment if you can. **

**Next chapter will be up sometimes between now and midnight of 4-14-13 (pacific time). Thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 2: That Morning

**Author's note: I'm so sorry I"m nearly a week late! I've decided to change my deadline to every other two weeks and see how that works out. Thanks for your patience! This week has been busy, I finally received my copy of Hyrule Historia (I know I'm a terrible fan if i just got it BUT IT'S BEAUTIFUL). I also finally got my writing blog going (philosophoicalelements on tumblr if your interested) and star testing was this week. Still no excuse and I will promise to meet my deadlines from now on!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda or any canon plots and characters. The Legend of Zelda franchise is property of Nintendo. This is a fan story and its writer is gaining no profit from writing it. The only thing the writer owns is any original plots created by the writer and the original characters Summer, and Nick are owned by the writer. Thank you.**

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Chapter 2

That Morning

Summer twitched in her bed. Yet another dream was to haunt her tonight. If she was to have known this she would have never dared to blink. Link and she both had strange dreams come to them recently. Dreams where they stood in magnificent, but incredibly bizarre places, and sometimes flashes of sickly scenes would appear only to disappear again. Nothing like this night however.

Summer was the kind to watch her dreams like movies, she would just be an invisible ghost in the background and everything would take place in front of her. Even if she was in the dream she would look at herself. This dream was different though, she was in her own body; even if the said body felt invincible.

When she had fallen into a deep enough slumber for the gods to reach out and send her a dream she was standing in a cluster of gigantic trees. The likes of which she had only seen in past nights, but never in reality. There was a moment of eerie peace, the calm before the storm so to speak. She heard the rumble first, but then she felt the solid ground under her feet shake back and forth like she was in a snow globe. Then the crack came running at her before bursting past and leaving behind a gash upon the land. Instinctively she ran into the direction in which the crack came, and the shaking grew and grew to the point that if this hadn't really been a dream she wouldn't have been able to stand upright. Then she felt the heaving burst from the earth and roar into the ominous violet colored dark sky. Summer covered her long sensitive ears and shrieked from the explosive that even the deaf could hear around the world. She looked up and saw a massive beast had burst from where the noise seemed to come from. What appeared to be its head consisted of only a giant mouth that could swallow up a house like a chip, but it lacked in eyes, ears and a nose. A raven colored evil seemed to seep from it and pump into the world. Its skin was jagged knife like scales coming off its body like a demented form of fur. It opened its maw and roared into the heavens like a declaration of its arrival. It flaunted three rows of teeth and they were made exclusively for the purpose of ripping flesh like a sharks. The teeth themselves looked about as tall as a hylian. The inside color of its mouth was a bloody scarlet, and running down its spine was an unearthly ebony fire. It shut its mouth and swung its head a little as if flexing its neck again after a long nap. It gave a faint smug smile to the sky as if it had done what it had set out to do.

* * *

Summer woke up thrashing wildly into her bed and drenched in a sticky film of sweat.  
"Wake up! Summer, please wake up!" It was a familiar voice, but panicked. Summer's eyes burst open and found her blonde friend in her room.

"Oh my goddess Summer! Are you alright?" She asked as Summer attempted to untangle herself from her sheets.

"I'm fine… it was just a bad dream." She panted wiping off her forehead.

"Bad dream? That was a night terror!" Zelda gushed fussing over her friend.

"Uh, I just have a headache is all. Why are you here again?" Summer snapped groggy and with a rude tone.

"You forgot didn't you? Oh Summer what will we do with you and that bad memory of yours? You were going to help me out this morning, remember? You were supposed to be ready by now. Could our country really fall into the hands of such a lazy princess?" Zelda sighed and looked over her friend's dorm room.

"Technically I'm a queen. I was officially a queen on my seventeenth birthday." Summer corrected.

"It's like a tornado went through here, I swear you are a pig." Zelda sighed pulling her friend out of the bed and changing the subject. "You get dressed and fix that bed hair."

Summer groaned seeing her awful reflection stare back at her in the mirror. Her hair was crazy but it was a very easy kind to maintain. It was naturally stick straight and flat, very boring, but convenient. Sure it had no bounce or flounce or was sleek like Zelda's but after brushing it she would be presentable. Besides it was a nice color, a brunette with strange ginger highlights that could have only come from the mother she never knew. Her eyes were a crystal sky blue, and she had pale skin that tended to tan easily and rarely burned. In fact she didn't know what a sun burn felt like. She had ruby lips and a flush of color on her cheeks.

Summer brushed out her locks and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she heard Zelda go through her room like a magic cleaning rainbow.  
"Why don't you ever clean?" Zelda asked.

"It's just going to get dirty again." Summer told her as she snatched her outfit for the festivities that day.

"So are you nervous about today? Is that what caused the nightmare?" Zelda asked slipping smoothly into the subject; she was always very good with people.  
"I don't want to talk about it." Summer sighed holding her temper.  
"You know daddy always says a dream always has a back bone of truth in it." Her blonde friend informed her.

"Yeah, I was just dreaming about Groose winning." Summer lied.  
"That would be scary." Zelda agreed then looked over her friend all dressed in the days attire.

Summer flaunted brown loose fitting pants with hideous but very efficient brown boots, a messy tight bun, a white long sleeved shirt (as was the popular fashion of the time) with a bit of red embroidery, and a red belt around her pants. Oh and of course she wore her red fire hoop earrings, a gift from her mother that never left her ear lobes as long as she could remember.  
"You're the princ- err queen shouldn't you wear a riding dress?" Zelda asked hesitatingly.  
"But that thing is so impractical. It's hard to be a good competitor in a dress, even if it was made for riding. Besides you're the queen today, the royal families' most fitting female is supposed to be the goddess. You're just the perfect fill in." Summer grinned; she loved having an excuse of not wearing a dress as much as Zelda enjoyed having a reason to wear one.

Zelda and Summer slipped silently out of the knight academy to the goddess statue.

"Are you nervous?" Summer asked as her friend inspected her golden harp.  
"A bit," she blushed. "I would think you would be more so."

"Not really." Summer shrugged as she breathed in the thin breezy air of her grand home known as Skyloft.

"Groose and his ridiculous posse are trying to get some last minute bird practice in." Zelda observed.  
"And how much you want to bet Link is spending his time oversleeping. I think he might have forgotten about today…" Summer commented.

"He needs to take these things more seriously! I tried to make him practice today like those nitwits are. Maybe I should send my Loftwing to wake him up. Do you want me to send Nick a note too?" Zelda asked and Summer shrugged.  
"Is something going on between you two?" Zelda questioned.

"He has been acting so weird since last night." Summer sighed.

"Did something happen?" Zelda asked.

"He was about to tell me something important… but then Pipit caught us out so late… and now he has been all jumpy and suspicious." Summer shrugged.  
"Hmm I don't know…" Zelda pretended to be thinking hard.  
"Wow Ms. Smarty Pants doesn't know something." Summer grinned.

"Oh be quiet I need to practice my harp anyway. Would you sing along with me? You do have a beautiful voice." Zelda smiled.

"Sure," Summer shrugged.

Zelda began to pluck each string gracefully like she had been doing it her whole life. Summer was shocked so much so she missed her cue.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" Summer gasped, she had no idea her friend had such a talent.

"I don't know where did you learn to sing?" Zelda shrugged. She started up again and this time Summer came right on cue and matched her angelic voice with Zelda's gorgeous tune. Then the song came to a close.

Zelda called for her Loftwing and gave her gorgeous blue bird a note for Link. Zelda suddenly looked back over her shoulder to the clouds beyond.  
"Summer did you hear that?" She asked.  
"Hear what?" She replied.

"Oh… nothing… let's just practice the song again. Having your voice helps me a bit." Zelda smiled and they began the song again.

* * *

Link stood in a void of darkness. He looked around expecting some grand crazy scenery like his past dreams, but tonight was far from that. He felt a horrible chill come over his body, and suddenly a black roaring beast manifested in front of him. It roared a few times before the world around him changed from pitch black to a dull dim light. The light came from above the massive monster's head and subdued it a bit.

"Rise Link… it's time for your destiny to unfold. You are fated a hand in a great legend and it will soon find you… The time for you to awaken has come. Link…" The voice spoke in the ancient tongue of the gods, the second language for Skyloftians. But before the female voice could finish the beast let forth another roar and the light disappeared. He cringed at the sheer volume of the beast. He paused… what was that familiar noise coming from somewhere far off? It was a faint cry. A very shrill demanding cry. It got louder and when he turned his head he found himself face to face with a well-known blue loftwing. It released another cry shrieking it this time right into his sensitive long ears.

Link rolled off his bed and his head made a painful and jolting thud with the wooden floor of his dorm. He opened his green eyes to see the ceiling of the knight academy. He looked over by his window to see the head of Zelda's sapphire Loftwing looking at him as if he was making the bird's life very difficult. It spat the letter from its beak which bounced of Link's head and settled on the floor. It let a small noise out as if to say good bye and left like it had so many other important matters to tend to.

Link stood up and grabbed the letter. He opened it and began to read.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I know how much you like to sleep in, and so I bet this letter will be your wakeup call. Was I right? Get up Link! Today is the Wing Ceremony! You promised to meet me before it starts, or did you really forget like Summer? You'd better not keep me waiting, and you know how impatient Summer is. By the way get your twin brother Nick for us to. Oh and Summer thinks he has been 'jumpy' lately, he better do it today. –Zelda." Link couldn't help but smile at his friend's thoughtfulness.

Link rushed through his morning routine of brushing his hair and teeth and all the usual. He dashed a few doors down to his brother's room and pounded on the door. When he heard Nick's voice call come in he burst into the room to find his brother already ready for the day looking at his table of plants.

"I got a letter from Zelda." Link started.  
"Let me guess, her bird woke you up?" Nick asked. The two brothers where twins, but not identical. They both had floppy hair but Nick's was a deep dark chocolate brunette and his brother a sandy blonde. They never knew their father and their mother had died when they were fourteen.

"Well… yes…" Link admitted.

"I swear you sleep about fourteen hours of the day. I think if something is not required of you, you just fall asleep." Nick rolled his eyes.  
"That's completely normal what's not normal is morning people, they are freaks of nature. It's not natural to be all bright and functioning so early. What are you doing anyway?" Link asked.  
"I was just watering my plants." Nick shrugged.  
"You have to do it today you know." Link said suddenly and vaguely, he loved hanging this over his brother.  
"W-what?" Nick stuttered a rare thing since he was normally calm and collected.

"Summer thinks you have been jumpy lately, like you're hiding something. She is suspicious; you have to tell her today. Got it?" Link grinned.  
"Fine, but only if you tell Zelda." Nick fired back.

"I will. I'm not backing out like you did. I'm the brave one remember?" Link smiled.

"I didn't back out, Pipit interrupted us remember?" Nick's face got red and he imitated Link's voice as he said "remember?"  
"Sure, let's just go. Zelda is probably all high strung and Summer will kick the crap out of us if we are late." Link told his brother and together they went off to the statue.

"Do you hear that..?" Link asked as they walked up the steps to the statue.

"That's Summer's voice, it's so beautiful." Nick's eyes sparkled and Link shook his head.  
"Not that… The playing. The music, I've never heard it before. It's gorgeous." Link and Nick both rushed into the shrine to the girls.

What lay before them was a memory to keep. The scarlet Loftwing with the sapphire one circling the hand carved sky goddess statue. The statue of the sky goddess was a monument of beauty with her marble robe and flowing hair and her arms palm up to her chest.

At her feet was a marble and gold trimmed platform. There stood two girls, both sights to behold in their own rights. The blonde heavenly one in the princess dress and the watery blue eyes with the most emotional tune coming from the careful plucking of her fingers and the golden harp. Then the soft mahogany colored brunette that was the embodiment of fire, with her ruby lips, fierce looking attire, and demeanor; all mixed with the sacred tongue of the gods floating from the depths of her throat.

"_Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess… Unite land and sky… Bring light to the darkened land…" _Summer's voice sang along with the heavenly cords of the harp. The song ended abruptly.

"Morning Link." Zelda turned to see the awe struck boys doing a master hair flip with her golden locks woven in colored hair wraps and flashing a stunning smile.

"Nick, you finally showed up." Summer gave her buddy a cocky grin and crossed her arms confidently.

"I see my Loftwing got you out of bed. I thought you'd sleep in forever. I knew Summer would forget her promise since she never remembers a thing… I should have known you would too. But look at this instrument! And this outfit! They're mine to use in the ceremony, since I will be playing the role of the goddess. I feel like a real princess. Isn't it all so beautiful? Especially this harp! Father told me it's just like the one the goddess was said to have in the legends, and King Fotia told me about how all the past queens and princesses wore this dress and played this harp themselves. This harp even sounds gorgeous too. I asked father about playing it and he taught me. And look at these clothes! I made this wrap myself, and we get to use it in today's ceremony. Between the harp and this outfit I'm determined to be the best goddess ever today! I got you up early because I wanted you to be the first to see me like this." Zelda was grinning ear to ear.

"Can you tell she is excited?" Summer asked her best friend Nick.

"Yep, she is practically bouncing up and down. Look at Link's face he is beaming." Nick agreed.  
"She would be a good princess wouldn't she? She is exactly what a royal girl should be." Summer looked upon her giddy friend with a smile.  
"You're a great queen too you know." Nick told her.  
"I just don't think I'm cut out for it. I'd much rather be something more exciting, like a knight." Summer sighed.  
"Be careful what you wish for. It might come true." Nick warned and Summer should have heeded those words.

"Nick you ok? You're not looking me in the eye." Summer looked at her buddy as he averted his eyes and then looked back at her.  
"It's just I have something to tell you later." He whispered and she shrugged.

"How do I look Link?" Zelda asked the boy.

"Great!" He nodded quickly.  
"Thanks, I think I look pretty good too; but it's nice to hear it from you." She blushed.

"I see my opinion doesn't matter here." Nick chuckled and Zelda remembered there were two more people there with her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, how do you think I look?" Zelda asked.  
"I think it's a nice costume." Nick smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean? If you think I look silly than just say it." She put a hand on her hip and narrowed her gaze.

"I don't think that's what he meant Zelda…" Summer defended.

"Girls look too deep into things." Nick sighed.

"Well… maybe it does look pretty weird…" Zelda looked over herself suddenly insecure.

"No way, it looks great." Link reassured her.

"Oh there you kids are." They heard a regal voice from behind.

"Are you all prepared for today?" The authoritative wise voice called.

"Daddy," Summer's face instantly turned to a childlike grin.  
"Hello Father." Zelda smiled. They all turned to see headmaster Gaepora of the knight academy striding along with King Fotia of Skyloft.

Gaepora was a pale older fellow with platinum blonde hair that had appeared white with age. He had a set of piercing light brown eyes and wore a regal orange teacher's uniform complete with a golden crest on his chest holding a white and black trimmed sail cloth over his shoulders. He was the smartest and wisest man to live, many referred to him as the library on feet and known for being a realist.

King Fotia was the current king of Skyloft. He gave Skylar her light brown hair color and sky colored eyes. He had a tall regal and imposing demeanor but once you actually spoke or got to know him you'd find him an optimistic idealist sort of man, a lot like his daughter. Although, he wasn't nearly as smart as his friend (and had the memory of a goldfish) he was much stronger. Today he was wearing a crimson tunic and a silver crown studded with colored gems along with silver wings above his pointed ears. He had white sailcloth over his shoulders as well with a silver embroidery trim and a silver winged crest on his chest. His belt was made of the finest leather and a white gold buckle. He looked like a king all right.

"It's encouraging to see you all up early." Gaepora smiled approvingly.

"I bet you all couldn't sleep a wink. Maybe you Nick, you don't have anything happening today do you?" Fotia asked and he nodded.

"Didn't make the cut, I'm not much of a rider. More of a scholar." He smiled.

"Link and Summer if either of you win today's race you'll get to be in the ceremony with Zelda." Gaepora told them as if Link hadn't known and prayed for that possibility.

"Both of you do your best, especially you my little girl." The king grinned.

"But I've been thinking… Link hasn't been practicing like the other riders today. I don't think he has a chance!" Zelda began and Link cringed.

"Of course he doesn't I'd beat him even if he practiced day and night." Summer grinned.  
"You're so arrogant." Nick smiled rolling his eyes.

"But even when he is riding he is just lazily gliding through the around like he is in a daze. I bet he is day dreaming!" Link dropped his head in shame.

"He is riding a bird, so technically his head is supposed to be in the clouds." Summer joked which was her way of trying to cheer up link and lighten the mood.

"Summer, be serious." Her father corrected.

"I don't know what he is thinking. He needs to be in perfect control of his bird and focus to beat Groose and Summer." She argued.

"Glad to know I have your support." Summer sighed under her breath.  
"Hey she wants him to win for the ceremony, you have my support." Nick whispered to her. He could always tell when she was hurt.

"Well against my girl he should be very worried!" Fotia laughed.  
"No use in worrying yourself Zelda. You may have a perfectly valid point; the Wing Ceremony is designed to test the skills of the rider in addition to the bond to his bird." Gaepora started.

"Victory still is not easy to obtain." Summer pointed out.

"And like you said, I haven't seen him practicing as hard as the other students." Fotia added. Nick casted a glance at his younger brother who sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Seems like someone has their doubters." Nick grinned and elbowed Link.

"But you have known Link since you were little, there is no need to fret for him. As we know Link sure has a special Loftwing. They share an even more special connection. I've never heard or seen something quite like it." Gaepora stated. It is a true rarity if Gaepora doesn't know about something.

"All you kids are blessed with special birds. It's truly a gift, as you know each of us Skyloftians are but one half of a pair. We are only made whole with our loftwings. When we ride with our birds we are truly one. They are our companions, partners, guardians and are bestowed upon us straight from the sky goddess herself. They symbolize her love for us as her sacred children." Fotia explained.

"Remember when the kids met their birds?" Gaepora nudged the king and they laughed.

"My little girl got so huffy and impatient in the middle of me explaining how to ride she just jumped on and took off." Fotia laughed.  
"Zelda was the only one who sat and listened to the whole lesson before climbing on." Gaepora recalled.

"Everyone knows how big of a moment it is to meet your Loftwing under the Statue of the Goddess." Fotia replied.

"But when Link meeting his Loftwing was quite extraordinary. Zelda, Nick, and Summer all got very rare birds. A sapphire agile treasure for Zelda, a dependable mint colored one for Nick, a muscular crimson for Summer… but Link's emerald one was a breed never heard of before. That boy and his bird had a profound connection the moment they locked eyes." Gaepora recounted.

"That bird had it all. Endurance, speed, and such strength. It was really a sight to behold to see those two meet." Fotia agreed.

"I remember that day, I just knew I was supposed to fly and I did." Link grinned.

"Um, I got my bird that day to." Nick grumbled under his breath.

"They are only saying these things to reassure Zelda and make Link feel more confident." She whispered.

"Link didn't even wait for us to take a breath to explain riding to him. Just jumped on and gracefully flew away. No question they were built for each other." Gaepora continued.

"I just followed my brother, I was so angry he went first." Nick grinned.  
"Considering how you were seething that day, the connection wasn't lost on you either Zelda." Summer reminded her friend, hoping to humble her, but instead just got her irritated.

Link looked up at the cloudless sky above. He waited a moment to realize he couldn't feel his Loftwing drifting through the clouds or speeding across the sky. Link's face of confusion went unnoticed.

"Oh but who could blame you? We all were a bit envious of Link that day." Gaepora chuckled.  
"Anyone who has something special is bound to catch a nasty thought sooner or later." Fotia pointed out, the man may not have been the brightest but he had some good advice.

Zelda had enough of this patronizing behavior and nostalgia filled talk. She spun to her father.

"This is not a contest to take lightly Father! This ceremony is the biggest test to become an upperclassmen, and then a knight for the grand country of Skyloft!" Zelda burst out.

"Do you think we don't know that?" Summer snapped back.

"If Link messes up his bag chance… he could lose his chance at being a knight. I know Summer is trying to win too but she doesn't have as much to lose. Whether she has the title of knight or not she will still end up as queen." Zelda's face went from one of frustration to one of genuine concern and worry.

"Be at ease my darling. Honestly, it's almost like you become a new person when you worry." Gaepora attempted unsuccessfully to soothe his daughter's distress.

"The true outcome is known only to the sky goddess and if there was a problem with it she would change it." Fotia tried to give his best advice to the worried blonde. She dropped her head and thought out her next move.

"Hey! Listen here Link! You had better fly like your life depends on it today!" Zelda turned her energy to her best friend.

"It probably does if Zelda is like this." Nick warned.

"She is just going to be so disappointed if she can't do the ceremony with him." Summer sighed; she knew what that feeling was like. She smiled as she recalled doing the ceremony with Nick at the last contest.

"Link at least do some warm up exercises before the race!" Zelda grabbed his wrist and yanked him along. She must have somehow doubled her power because she usually normally would have never been able to forcibly pull him into anything.

"Help me!" Link called back to Summer and his brother.

"Don't be like that! You'll thank me later!" Zelda retorted.

Nick and Summer shared a glance before hurrying after Zelda as she dragged Link to the takeoff platform. Zelda swung the boy in front of her and he teetered on the edge.

"Now go. Jump off the edge and call your bird! We have no time to waste, the ceremony will start soon, and you have to practice seriously for once." She commanded.

Summer and Nick on the other hand, where cracking up.

"Oh how have the table turns. Summer isn't the one with the hot-headed temper for once! So this is what's like to watch the fool who earned a woman's scold." Nick usually was the one in Link's place dealing with an infuriated Summer.

"The ever calm and peaceful Zelda has finally broke. Who would have ever thought?" Summer laughed.

"Hold on!" Link seemed desperate and panicked. He looked over his shoulder at Zelda like she was a mad woman. Summer and Nick both instantly stopped laughing. It wasn't like Link had never done this before, why would he be afraid? Zelda, in her current state didn't pick up on it.

"Zelda, wait! I don't feel my bird!" Link blurted out.

"Ohhh really? You don't 'feel' your bird? I wasn't born yesterday. I'm the top of the class Link, I know you're just trying worm your way out of practicing. Pathetic attempt, you should know you can't fool me." She scoffed and shoved him off the edge.

"Forceful and you know it's bad when I'm the one saying that." Summer ran to the edge to look over at Link's falling form.

"Call your bird!" Zelda shouted to him below. Link's shrill whistle call shot through the clouds shaky and more urgent than normal.

"His bird isn't here yet." Nick gritted his teeth.

"Something's wrong!" Zelda jumped to go after but in the time she took to speak Summer had already impulsively dashed off the edge. Nick reached out to grab her but got Zelda instead.

"Gods dammit she is too impulsive." Fotia remarked.

The sky enveloped Summer in its embrace as she hurriedly called her bird. Her crimson bird shot down like a bloodstained arrow. It rose up against her body to meet her and she snatched up the silver reins. She hooked her feet on and the bird used gravity to its advantage. It opened its talons like an owl about to snatch up a field mouse. The bird wasn't built for speed, but its big build helped it to get up to the platform alright.

The bird set Link down before it collapsed on its side. It threw Summer onto the soil with a loud thump and the bird laid over her whole lower half of her left leg and she yelped.

"She's on my ankle!" Summer whimpered. Fotia rushed to pull off the bird. Nick grabbed Summer's arms and pulled her out from under the loftwing's body.

"Link are you okay?!" Zelda asked rushing to her friend's side.

"I'm fine." He replied.

"Oh I'm sorry friend I shouldn't have pushed you so hard suddenly." Summer stroked her panting loftwing. Link was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Summer you're hurt." Nick told her.

"I'm fine." She gritted her teeth.

"This is very bizarre. What could have happened to your loftwing?" Gaepora wondered looking up at the sky. For Gaepora not to know something was incredibly scary. It meant whatever it was; it was something truly rare or just nonexistent.

"For a bird to ignore its rider… it's unthinkable!" Fotia agreed.

"And you still can't sense your bird eh Link?" Nick asked and Link shook his head. He stood up and sighed.

"This is a huge problem, two of our birds are out of the race and it's about to start soon." Gaepora sighed.

"Link when you said you couldn't sense your loftwing… I should have known better. You would have never come up with something crazy like that. You have never lied to me before either; I should have believed you… I'm sorry." Zelda apologized.

"It's fine Zelda, how would you have known anyway?" Link comforted.

They heard the reflexive golden bells at the academy start to chime the hour before the race.

"Okay, this is what we shall do. Gaepora you go tell instructor Howell to postpone the race. Nick, you treat my daughter's ankle. Zelda try to fix up her bird. Link, you go look for your bird. I will attend to personal matters." Fotia instructed like the king he was. Everyone hurried to work except Summer, Nick and the King.

"What important matters do you have to attend to?" Summer asked suspiciously.

"Things I don't want you to know." He replied.

"You're going to take me out of the race and fetch a dress so I can attend as queen, aren't you?" She growled.

"You can't ride with a broken ankle." Fotia rationally reasoned, but Summer was too worked up now to go back.

"Look! I'm fine." She jumped to stand. She suppressed a small yelp best she could but couldn't help but limp over.

"Summer, your ankle is bad. I'll try and heal you in time so you could still race." Nick told her, and he didn't think of it as lying. He thought of it as giving her hope.

"Fine," She sighed and proceeded to try and walk off like it was nothing.

"I'll leave her to you Nick." Fotia sighed and waved the two off as he hurried to attend to his matters.

"Suck up your pride and let me help you." Nick told her. He swung one arm behind her knees and the other under her back.

"I can walk just fine!" She snapped at him and he groaned. He wasn't the fit type, and carrying her was hard enough without her struggling.

"I'm just trying to help you. Besides you don't want me in trouble with the king do you?" He reasoned.

"Fine, but when the hell did you get to be strong? Last I checked you where the smart brother not the strong one." Summer replied.

"You are so mean sometimes you know that? I have been training extra lately so I do better in sword and bird training." He panted out.

"Aw, now there is a real knight. But aren't you racing today your highness?" Karane their red headed friend asked and went to open the door.

"Don't call me Your Highness." Summer groaned.

"She hurt her ankle so she is in a bad mood. Thanks for the door." Nick told Karane and hurried inside.

"Nick, you're panting." She observed.

"I'm fine." He told her.

"No, put me down this instant. That's an order." She pointed a finger in his face.

"Just let me take you down stairs and then you can walk the rest of the way okay?" He replied.

"My room is on the upper floor you know." She told him.

"I know but my room has all the medicine." He sighed and hurried down the stairs.

"Now put me down!" She whined. He didn't say anything but rolled his eyes and set her down. He stood on her left and helped her limp to his room. The door was already slightly opened and he bumped it with his hip to open it all the way.

She plopped down on his bed as if it was her own and relieved the pressure of her foot.

"Think you can help me doc?" She asked.

He shut the door and kneeled in front of his bed.

"I don't know quite yet miss, how about you let me have a look?" He grinned, he loved playing doctor like his mother once did. She carefully sat up and scooted against the wall with her left leg out.

He carefully slipped her boot off and she only winced a bit. He then undid the leather foot guard. He gently glided his finger over her ankle as softly as a makeup artist who was applying liquid eyeliner to a twitching customer.

"For a guy you sure are gentle." She observed.

"For a girl you sure are rough around the edges, and sort of sexist. You act like you've never seen me work, with how many times you get yourself hurt training." He pointed out.

"Oh shut it." She snatched a pillow from the top of the bed and smacked him over the head with it.

"Hey it's not nice to hit your doctor." He laughed.

"Well fix my sprained ankle already doc!" She ordered.

"Okay, this is going to hurt but I need to check if it's sprained." He pressed his hand over her whole ankle and applied pressure and then he moved his hand around to feel the bones. She nearly shrieked.

"Okay it's over." He assured her as she gritted her teeth and gripped the pillow.

"It looks like it's just twisted funny but not dislocated or broken." He told her as he went to the tiny freezer next to his desk. He grabbed a small cloth sack and filled it with ice. He set it on her ankle.

"I hate the cold." She hissed.

"I know, I'm just going to wrap it up and don't wear any leather foot guards. Just wear your boots." He advised and grabbed a small wooden splint and bandages.

"Okay, does right here hurt?" He asked pressing slightly on the bump of her natural ankle.

"No," She gritted her teeth and looked away.

"I knew it would." He replied looking right through her lie. He carefully set the wooden stick on the other side where it wouldn't hurt and began to wrap it.

"So can I race doc?" She asked, he froze and looked up at her. One thing he was not good at when it came to being a doctor was breaking bad news.  
"It will be fine in about a day and a half, but you can't race on it. If you even tried it could turn to a fracture, dislocate or worse." He told her.

"Maybe it's for the better. I mean Zelda would love it if Link won." Summer sighed.  
"You feel ok about not racing?" He asked.

"I'm fine with it." She told him in the same tone she said no when he asked about her ankle pain.

"I knew you would hate it." He sighed looking through her lies again.

"So what where you going to tell me last night?" She asked.

"Oh I… I was going to tell you…"

* * *

**Author's Note: Well the story is officially kicked off into full swing. I realized writing this chapter in the game's start Zelda talks with a lot of exclamation points. I also introduced another original character: King Fotia. I also made sure the chapter was longer then the past ones. As always reviews, comments, criticism, suggestions, questions and anything else are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading this story and this author's note as well.**

**Next chapter deadline is 5-5-13, the chapter will be up sometime between now and midnight (pacific time) of the deadline date. Thanks for your support and patience. **


	4. Chapter 3: The Race

**Author's note: Well here is the next chapter guys right on time! This one is a lot longer then the last two as well and I hope you like it. Please read and review as always!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Legend of Zelda or any of its cannon plots and characters. The Legend of Zelda franchise is property of Nintendo and credit is given to all proper parties. This is a fan story and is gaining no profit in anyway. The writer of this story only owns is any original plots created by the writer and the original characters Nick, Summer, and King Fotia. Thank you.**

* * *

Chapter 3

The Race

"You…don't know where your bird is? What are you talking about?" Link had just finished relaying his problem to Fledge, a boy in his class.

"You called and it didn't even come to you? …So that means…I should've known…" Fledge mumbled the last half of that sentence to himself. He started to get a bit jumpy.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing. Really, I was, uh… talking to myself. You know how I kinda do that sometimes…"

"Oh I see, tell me if you see anything." Link shrugged and turned to hurry off.

"Okay then I hope you find your bird soon…" Fledge nodded.

As Link ran off Fledge stopped him again.  
"Link!" he called and Link turned around.  
"Hey, umm… I should probably tell you…" He spoke softly, a stark contrast to his loud call at Link a moment before.  
"I mean uh forget it never mind. Sorry…" Link smiled and waved it off. Fledge was obviously suspicious but Link wasn't going to push the poor kid.

Link didn't get a solid lead till he ran across Karane who was muttering something about chivalry.

"Hey, Link. What's wrong? You look all flustered." Link again retold his missing Loftwing issue.

"You can't find your Loftwing?! Umm I don't know what to tell you. I've been here this whole time. But I bet Pipit knows something. He is the best to ask about birds, and he has a close eye on everything that goes on here. Last I saw him he was downstairs." Karane advised. Link thanked her and ran to find the ace student Pipit.

"Why are you still hanging around here?! You should hurry to the race." Pipit told Link when he first saw him. Link again spoke of his problem, and he was really starting to get tired of saying the same story so much. He couldn't help but wonder how the town gossips never tired of telling the same latest drama for eternity.

"What!? Your Loftwing didn't come? Why would a guardian bird not come when called? You know, this is a phenomenon I've never heard of. I have no idea what to tell you… But a good senior never leaves an underclassmen out to dry. I'll help you try to figure this out best I can. I'll ask everyone around here and you head over into town and ask people there if they know anything." Pipit instructed. Link smiled, thanked him, and then hurried into town.

* * *

He spotted Groose and his posse sitting at the plaza waiting for the race along with a few bird loving spectators. The competing students where snickering about something, and as much as Link hated the very idea of talking to them voluntarily.

Groose always acted like he was the best thing to hit Skyloft. But he really was just a big bully ever since they were little. Groose wasn't a small guy either. He was a lot taller than Link and far more muscled up. He also had strange yellow eyes and flaming red hair that strongly resembled a rooster's comb. His big build and bully personality allowed him to take what he wanted and shove people around to get it. He always picked on Link and Nick too. Link was the only one brave enough to stand up to Groose, and Nick was to shy and weak to do anything when Groose would do something to him. However, Groose's main source of hate was always Link.

Groose's two lackey's where Strich and Cawlin. Strich was a thin, lean, blonde boy who kept his hair in a bowl cut. He wore a muddy dull red tunic, with white pants underneath and had a poorly made sailcloth that was a navy blue. It looked so poorly made most doubted it would even work. He had brown eyes and was the calm quiet one out of the group. He actually was a pretty nice guy when you talked to him and he just silently followed Groose which gave him the reputation of another jerk.

Cawlin on the other hand was the opposite. A short plump boy, and his tunic was a decent colored orange with tan pants underneath it. He also wore a well matched yellow sailcloth that was draped over his shoulders. He has very little compassion and doesn't really care about anything unless it involves him. His dark hair has a blue tint to it and he always has a smug look on his face. He looks up to Groose like a god.

"You know, Groose, that sure was a pain, what with all the scratching and pecking." Strich commented.

"Of course it was. You thought a well-built emerald Loftwing like that was gonna go down without a fight? But we got him, and I don't care how tough those special bred birds are supposed to be. He's not getting out of that pen anytime soon boys. Better yet, Summer's out of the race too. I heard she messed up her ankle. Good thing to, if we had messed with her the king would have us out of the race." Groose chuckled. He wore his normal drab blue tunic and tan pants underneath. He had a lime green sail cloth over his shoulders. He stood and swung his head side to side to crack his neck and turned around to see a smug Link looking at him.  
"Whoa! Link! So, uh… yeah. Just how long have you been standing there?" Groose then returned to his tough self. He grinned and circled Link like a shark, and his pointed hair could easily resemble a shark's top fin.

"What is your problem Link? Oh, wait… I know. You're here to ask about today's race. I can see it in those dopey green eyes of yours. They're just pleading, 'Oh, Groose, can you please find it in your heart to let me win today? Pretty please?'" Groose laughed to himself imagining Link like that.

"You're just desperate to win so you can get some alone time with Zelda up on the Statue of the Goddess at the end of the ceremony." Groose accused.

"Unlike you I have the courage to talk to her every day and don't need to win a stupid race just to be alone with her." Link snapped. Groose ignored that comment and continued with his rant.

"Well, sorry but I'm not just gonna let you win. Groose doesn't do charity for wimps. My advice? Work hard and pray with all your heart to the goddess and you might even get second… but hey I just realized something. How come I haven't seen your bird all day? Where is that scruffy pile of green feathers? I wonder what happened to it. Do you think his tiny brain got confused by all these clouds and he got lost?" Groose stood in front of Link and crossed his arms.

"Nice hair Groose, at least my hair color doesn't match Summer's ruby bird." Link grinned, everyone knew how sensitive Groose was about his hair.

"You back off my do right now, or I'll stomp you into the ground. Everyone knows I got the sickest pompadour in town." Groose pointed his finger in Link's face.

"You know, we're all real tired of how your brother shows everyone how he is so close with the princess and how you never let anyone forget that you and Zelda go way back. You've been friends since diapers? Big whoop. It doesn't change the fact that you just float through life with your head in the clouds. Would you wake up and grow a back bone already? Dopes like you who aren't gonna achieve anything in life are gonna drag our honored academy through the mud." Groose snapped.

"Look who is talking, Groose." Zelda growled standing behind the group. She had her hands on her hip and more attitude than usual. Behind her was Nick and Summer with her limp (she refused to use a crutch).

"Three against one is hardly a fair fight Groose, a cheap win!" Summer scoffed.

"Oh… hey Zelda. Nah me and Link where just talking." Groose softened up and put an innocent smile on his face.

Link grinned and stepped out of the way when he saw Summer stomp up with her very nonmenacing limp.

"So sorry about your ankle princess." Groose grinned.

"You shut it Groose! Even with this ankle I could beat you and you know it to!" She yelled and her fiery temper was about to burn him if her wasn't careful. She stepped forward and grabbed his collar. Her words had little to no effect on Groose, especially since she was wincing from her ankle.  
"Careful Summer!" Nick hurried up next to her. She wasn't sure if he was telling her to be careful with her temper or to be careful with her ankle. Maybe it was both.

Zelda pointed a finger in Groose's face just like he had done to Link.

"Don't even try your lies Groose! You were picking on Link again weren't you? Why are you always so mean to Link and Nick? They are students at the academy just like the rest of us here. Why do you insist on being such a bully to them!?" Zelda demanded and Groose seemed pretty shocked by her unnatural fury.

"Oh uh yeah… I guess…" He sighed.

"You guess? Guess what?" Zelda looked at him suspiciously. He suddenly blushed a bit and smiled.

"I…guess…you… er…" Groose was lost in a stupid fantasy for a moment, but returned to his cold hard self.

"Forget it will you? I wasn't guessing anything, OKAY?" He turned and went to walk off with his lackeys following close behind.

"Get back here coward!" Summer shouted.  
"Calm down Summer." Nick advised, he was the only one who she would listen to in a rage, or at all really.

Groose stopped at the takeoff platform and spun around. He struck a cocky pose and an overconfident smile.

"We're outta here boys. I'll be seeing you soon Link. I'll be hoping you find your bird so you're not sitting out the race with the princess! Such a set back towards knighthood, such a bitter taste of failure! It's your signature flavor." He called and the group jumped off the platform to their birds.

"I'm the queen not a princess." Summer muttered and Nick couldn't help but smile.

"I hate to say it, but I bet those blockheads had something to do with your Loftwing's disappearance." Zelda sighed as they flew away.

"We are wasting are time here." Nick pointed out.

"We need to start searching for my bird." Link nodded.

"I'll fly around and see if I can find any trace of your bird. Father said he has talked to instructor Horwell about delaying the start of the ceremony so we have all the time we need." Zelda explained and hurried off the platform to the embrace of her bird.

"Sorry Link, I have to go get ready for the ceremony myself and check on my bird… But you better beat those big jerks in the race for me." Summer smiled letting her friend know it was ok he wasn't competing.

"I'm going to help her, but Pipit was wondering where you went. He said he needed to tell you something." Nick sighed, and Summer was already walking off pretending her limp was nothing.

"She seems normal, you didn't confess did you?" Link asked and Nick shook his head.

"Pipit came in when I was about to wondering where you were." Nick sighed.

"Pipit seems to keep getting in your way, huh? Well hurry up and tell her, I don't like suspense." Link encouraged and hurried to the school

Link finally found Pipit along with Fledge at the sparring hall.

"Link! Perfect timing. When I asked Fledge what he knew, he started acting very suspicious." Pipit explained. Poor Fledge was a scrawny sort of boy who often got the worst of Groose's bullying and didn't make the cut for the race. He had pretty good grades, and had hoped this school would teach him a thing or two about bravery and getting strong. He wore a light orange tunic and deep blue wind catcher with white pants. He had greenish hair, brown eyes and flushed cheeks.

"I'm really sorry. I really wanted to tell you, but if Groose found out I told you…" Fledge seemed genuinely ashamed.

"It seems that Groose forced him to keep quiet about it. Go on! Tell the truth." Pipit turned to Fledge.

"Not long ago, when I was cleaning the dining hall, Groose and his buddies came in. They didn't notice I was there and started talking about their plan to hide your Loftwing. I wanted to tell you, but just as I was sneaking away… Groose and his gang grabbed me… They said if I told you, they'd make sure I would never ride my bird again!" Fledge looked shamefully at the ground.  
"They apparently said that they had plans to take your bird and hide him near the big waterfall." Pipit explained.

"Please forgive me Link! I'm such a coward… I'm really sorry." Fledge apologized again.  
"Don't worry about it, and don't worry about Groose either. I won't let him mess with you again." Link told him.

* * *

Link made it to the waterfall and paused at the entrance. He felt his bird beyond the path and rushed inside. He emerged from the waterfall cave a few moments later.

"Link!" Zelda flew down on her blue Loftwing and jumped on the path to him.  
"Hey, Link, I was hoping I'd find you here. I heard you'd gone searching for your bird around the waterfall, so I was flying around to help you look. Groose and his gang always hang out around here, and I think I saw your Loftwing just ahead." Zelda told him and paused suddenly, like she had heard some mystical voice. She looked over the edge.  
"Who… who was that?" She asked herself then looked back over at a now worried Link.

"Who was what?" He asked.

"Oh, sorry, Link. I got distracted for a moment. Let's hurry!" She waved it off like nothing happened and together they hurried down the path.

They came to a hole in the stone wall, with Link's Loftwing inside and boards covering the entrance. The poor thing was crying and panicked. It was waving its wings dangerously for being in such a cramped space.  
"There's your Loftwing, Link!" Zelda pointed. Link rushed to untie the ropes and pull off the boards. The bird slowly emerged from its cell and cried out happily with its returned freedom. It shook its head and stretched out its long beautiful wings. Link stroked its forehead and beak. The bird quickly began to flap wings and took off for flight.

"We should hurry, Link. Now that your Loftwing is free, we should get the ceremony started…" Zelda sighed as she heard the calling again.

"But… I have to ask you something. I… I heard this voice a few moments ago. Did you hear it too?" He did hear a little something, but he wrote it off to his crazy imagination. He nodded and looked at the clouds with her.

"It's been happening a lot lately. It's the strangest thing… Almost like someone is calling out to me. Have you ever wondered what's beneath these clouds? Some say that it's a barren empty place, or that there is nothing at all, but I don't think so. Some of father's old texts speak of a place called the surface. The old tales describe a whole world under there, far more vast than Skyloft! It sounds like a fairytale. But the thing is no one has been down there to see it, and our Loftwings won't fly through the cloud barrier… But I can't help imagining the wild things that might be waiting below. Someday, I want to see it for myself." Zelda sighed looking over the expansive never ending clouds.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Link. We don't have time to talk! Let's get going. You're bird is waiting for you!" Zelda chuckled and Link nodded. He looked over at his bird and jumped off the platform. Zelda quickly followed him. Link let out the loudest whistle he could and his bird shot down to him. Link latched on and the two stuck together like glue.  
After making sure the bird wasn't hurt they hurried to the plaza.

There they saw Nick, Summer, Fotia, the other competitors, and many eager spectators all waiting for them. Summer stood next her father her foot still wrapped, but she waw in royal clothing. It was a mint green color like Nick's Loftwing. It went to her knees and was tight till it flowed out from her hips. Pretty silk red roses trailed up from her right hip up to her left shoulder. It had off the shoulder straps that were a transparent mint color and were ruffled. A red ruby sat at the center top of the dress on the ruffled silk sleeves were made to look like they where coming from under the gem. A silver crown with red rubies was sitting tightly on her head. Nick stood next to her and looked up at them.

"Thank the sky goddess you came!" Summer smiled at her friends.

"Yes, we almost had to start without you two." Fotia told them.

"Your loftwing is amazing, especially considering all it went through this morning. I'm going tell my father it's ok for the race to start now." Zelda told Link and hurried off to get her father.

Summer and Nick where discussing something and didn't even notice when Groose strode over to Link.  
"Well, well, if it isn't Link! Word around the plaza is you found that dumb bird of yours. Took long enough, because you and your dumb bird can't tell time, all the pre-race exercises we did were for nuthin', without the princess I don't have to worry at all."

"Oh please, even without me I've seen your flying. You need all the practice you can get." Summer walked next to Link with Nick's help. Luckily her father wasn't there or he would have scolded her for being rude to her subjects instead of respectful.

"You two brothers are such wimps. You're almost men, and yet you can't go anywhere without Zelda and Summer. I bet you two can't even decide what to have for lunch on your own, huh? We've been waiting forever for this race to start, and they delay it just for you? I don't get it. Why do you get special treatment because you can't get it together? Don't think we haven't noticed all those looks, we are all getting sick and tired of it. 'Ooh, look how close I am with Zelda. We are BEST friends. We go everywhere together.' Ugh!" Groose mocked, his petty jealousy showing.

"You think you're oh so smooth don't you? Well? Don't you?!" Groose growled, he seemed very frustrated he was losing in the race for Zelda's heart.

"You're just jealous they have girls that are friends with them at all! You wish Zelda stuck to you like he does to Link." Summer pointed an accusing finger at Groose.  
"Oh don't talk, you stick to Nick like glue. We all know about you two oh so innocent princess." Groose snapped.

"I'm not a princess! I'm a queen now! Can't anyone get that right?" Summer snapped, her and Nick both had turned pink from Groose's comments.

"Groose has been going on and on about how he is gonna be the one to end up with Zelda. He's really got his pompadour in a ruffle about her!" Cawlin whispered to Strich. Strich couldn't help but chuckle.

"I hate to break it to you, but today's the day I bust up this adorable little fantasy land you're living in. Zelda's taking the princess's place as the goddess during today's ceremony, and I'm gonna be the one to claim that sailcloth. When I heard she made it herself, man, no way was I gonna let some scrawny punk snatch that prize from me." Groose laughed and turned around.

"Zelda's sailcloth will be mine! I bet she was even thinking about me when she was stitching it…I can just see us now. First, I win the big race, and then Zelda and I finish the ceremony together on the statue. Just the two of us alone in our own special moment… Nobody is gonna stop me and Zelda from having that moment. Oh it's so real I can just see us now." Groose chuckled to himself off in his own fantasy land.

"Um Groose! Behind you!" Cawlin pointed at Zelda who was glaring at the back of Groose's head.

"WHAT?! Cant you two see I'm in the middle of—" When he turned around he stopped mid-sentence and gasped. He really should learn how to detect people better.

"What's this 'special moment alone' I'm hearing about?" Zelda asked glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"I…uh, nothing special, really. Just… um just… Link! Yeah, I was just telling my buddy Link here how glad I was he found that green bird of his. I'm so sorry your majesty you couldn't participate. But boy, I sure am looking forward to a great race! Anyhow, later, Zelda. Look for me during the race. I'll be the one pulling off all the hard dangerous moves." Groose gave her his signature cocky smile and strolled off with his lackeys.

"Can you believe him? No way that jerk is playing fair." Summer hissed.

"Either way, don't let those jerks get you down Link. Just get out there and do the best you can!" Zelda encouraged him.

"We'll be cheering you on." Nick smiled.

"I know you'll beat these guys." Zelda grinned.

"I got this! Don't worry." Link smiled.

"That's the winning spirit Link!" Summer laughed.

"The Wing Ceremony will now begin! competitors please assemble!" They heard instructor Owlan call.

"Looks like its race time. Good luck Link!"

* * *

The traditional top three knights flew overhead using wind blowers to shoot out colored smoke. The left one had green smoke, the middle red, and the right blue. They separated in all directions and came together again just above the plaza, and signaled the start of the ceremony with a beautiful rainbow.

On the far left was Summer, beside her father. Then was Headmaster Gaepora, Instructor Owlan, and Gaepora's golden bird with the traditional statue tied to its foot. Nick stood with the spectators.

"Your attention please. We are at last ready to begin our honorary and beloved wing Ceremony." The King grinned.

"Due to a mishap this morning that has rendered me unable to race I shall not be participating in the Ceremony. I do apologize for my absence in these events today." Summer begin to bow, but her father gave her a look and she switch to an awkward curtsy.

"We were worried due to other circumstances we would have to start without Link, but luckily that is no longer a concern." Gaepora continued.

"I'm glad that the rest of you all could make it. Before we start, I'll explain the rules for today's competition. I have attached a small statuette to this golden bird, who I will then release to the skies. On our signal please hurry off the takeoff platform and then call for your Loftwing. Please proceed to mount your Loftwing and whoever claims the statuette first shall be this year's champion. Those are the rules. hopefully they are simple enough, do you all understand?" Instructor Owlan asked and they all nodded.

"Excellent. As I hope you all know, today's champion shall graduate to into a senior, and bring them one step closer to knighthood. He shall also receive a gift from the young woman chosen to play the role of the goddess in this year's ritual and finish the last half of the ceremony high atop the Statue of the Goddess. The young woman performing the role of the goddess this year crafted the gift herself. And since we originally thought the queen would be participating and unable to perform the role as the goddess, this year the role shall be played by the lovely Zelda!" Instructor Owlan announced and Zelda giggled.

"Today is also the twenty fifth anniversary of our grand institution. So I want to see your best flying out there. Show us all how hard you have all been practicing. Also, I want only to see clean, fair flying. Anyone caught interfering with other riders will have to answer to me! That goes double for you, Groose!" Headmaster Gaepora snapped at the boy and he jumped back a bit startled.

"All right, gentlemen, line up. At his highness's command, the competition shall begin!" Owlan announced and the golden bird flew up into the air and took off. Link took a deep shaky breathe. It wasn't butterflies in his stomach, it was a storm. He took a look over at Zelda who gave him a smile and thumbs up. That calmed him down considerably. He focused, he needed to beat Groose because there was no way he was going to let Zelda down like that. He tuned all the noise out just like his instructor taught him. There was nothing but the whistling winds now. He felt all the nerves in his body become hyper aware for his command but tried to keep down the panic that came with it.

"GO!" Summer shouted in place of her father, who in her opinion was taking to long.

Link's feet stomped on the wooden platform; taking huge strides and almost leaping. Link and Groose were the first off the platform. Link called to his bird while he was above everyone else so his bird would have an altitude advantage. He latched on and dashed up into the blinding sun while everyone else went straight after the golden bird. The bird far below began to turn and Link dived, if he timed it right he could be right next to that bird by the time he made his descent. He miscalculated by a hair and the bird zoomed past. Groose shot ahead into first. Link rethought his strategy. They all were to his right and following the bird. The bird began to turn to its left. If Link went straight he might cross paths with the golden jet.

Link commanded his bird to dash straight, and the golden loftwing was turning right into his direction. As it flew by Link reached out and in a leap of faith attempted to grab the statue. The taste of victory was beginning already in his mouth and he felt the soft painted wood on the very tips of his fingers.

"This is my day!" Groose shouted at him and rammed his bird into his. Link was thrown back, but now he was fueled by adrenaline and power. He urged the bird on and he bravely reached out dangerously far. His daring move allowed his fingers to slipped around the statuette the second before Groose could. The statue he held was smoothed and beautifully carved with a silver bird that had a golden three triangle mark on its crest. It was sitting on its hind legs wings and had a long tail, a feature only Link, Summer, and Zelda's birds had. Its wings looked like they were in the middle of being raised for flight. Link gasped and raised it in the air like the trophy it was as he soared to the main island. He laughed in pure joy and the taste of failure was in Groose's mouth but not his own. Wait till Zelda saw this.

"Zelda what are you waiting for?" Nick asked her.  
"Go get him girl, that's a queen's command!" Summer laughed and shoved her friend towards the edge.

"Link!" Zelda called to him and he looked up to see her falling from above. He held out his arms and she crashed right into them. How they didn't break is a miracle on its own.

"Are you okay?!" He asked worriedly.

"I'm fine don't worry! That was some amazing flying out there Link!" She praised and leaned in closer to him. Her bird began to follow them closely behind.  
"We'd better get on with the ceremony!" She giggled and they flew towards the statue.

* * *

"Come on! I bet they are already there you slow poke!" Summer called to Nick as he struggled to keep up with her. They were going to watch the ceremony and Summer was going to see if Zelda had enough guts to go through with her plans.

Zelda and Link jumped off his bird into the hands of the goddess, literally. She turned to face him and held out her hand.  
"Link, hand me that Bird Statuette you grabbed in the race. I must offer it to the goddess." She told him. He gave her the statue and she turned her back to him to put it in the small square hole meant solely for this purpose. She stepped back and held her harp in a ready position for playing.

She took a deep breath before gliding her finger tips over the strings so delicately like they might break if she played a note wrong. As her beautiful playing filled the air their Loftwings circled the statue happily their long tails blowing with the wind. They looked truly mesmerizing from the point of view of Summer and Nick below as they hid behind some bushes in the sanctuary at the statue base.

The song Zelda was playing was called Hylia's Hymn, and was being played in her honor as a part of the ceremony.

Zelda turned back to face Link and held out her hand. He placed his over hers and kneeled to the floor, they both shut their eyes; for the best things in life happen with eyes shut.

"Great goddess, guiding light, and protector of our people, grant us your blessings and mercy as I act in your stead during this sacred ceremony. _Valiant youth who grasped victory at the celebration of the bird folk… In accordance with the old ways… I now bestow the blessings of the goddess upon you._" Zelda slipped her hand from his and untied the sailcloth that was draped over her shoulders. Link finally opened his eyes and looked up as she presented the hand-made folded up sail cloth to him. "_The blessings of the goddess drift down from the heavens aloft a sail, which I now pass on to you._" She smiled and he took it from her and stood up proudly to admire it.

"Link, don't goof off. Remember that this is a sacred ritual." She grinned and tried not to chuckle.  
"You know, they say that the goddess gave the Sailcloth to her chosen hero long ago. Of course, that one isn't the same one from those legends. I've worked hard to finish making this Sailcloth in time to give it to today's champion. I'm very grateful I got to give it to you, Link. Make sure you take very good care of it, OK?" She asked and he nodded.

"Thanks for making it up here to do this with me today like you promised." She smiled suddenly a bit shy and he nodded again with his usual grin. She chuckled and said, "We really should finish up this ritual…" She stepped closer with a mischievous look.

"You… do know what happens at the very end… right?" She had a mysterious gleam in her eyes.

"No…" He shook his head and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  
"Really? Huh, I thought you would've figured it out by now." She stepped forward with sneaky look. She stepped closer and their chests were only an inch apart and she cocked her head to the side. Link blinked and looked into her sea deep blue eyes. A playful smile made its way onto her face. She put her arms on his shoulders and smiled.

"_Oh my goddess are we supposed to kiss?! Did Groose know about this part?!" _Link gulped as these thoughts filled his head. She suddenly spun him around and laughed.  
"You have to jump off the statue!"

"You see that big gold-rimmed circle on the platform below? To finish the ceremony, you need to drop down right into the center of it! Leap off the edge here and then use your new Sailcloth. I know you're a very brave boy Link. If your really fearless you'll wait until the very last second to use your Sailcloth… So are you ready?" She giggled and he was to flustered to say anything except, "Uhh…"

"Then off you go!" She shoved him off the statue and down he went flailing like a mad man. He began to dive and taking on Zelda's challenge didn't open his sailcloth till the last moment.

"Haha! Look at him fall." Summer broke out in giggles and Nick chuckled a bit to seeing his brother's wild falling figure. He hushed her up when Link landed so they wouldn't be given away.

Link looked over to see Zelda 's graceful Loftwing with its wing spread land in front of him. She jumped off and hurried up to him with a laugh.

"That was just perfect! You're so amazing sometimes Link!" She praised and he blushed and smiled.

Zelda suddenly remembered something. She recomposed herself and folded her hands in front of her.

"That is truly a sight to remember." Summer whispered softly, knowing the moment she was beholding was one that should be frozen in.

Link's Loftwing flew down and stood behind its master just like Zelda's was. The light was shining down right on the circle platform and on the two blonde inseparable friends. The sapphire and emerald birds stood proudly and Zelda looked at the ground shyly.

"You know, Link, seeing as how you won today… And with this weather being so beautiful…" Zelda looked up at Link. The light shined on her hair like it was spun gold and her pale skin sparkled like fresh snow.

"You think maybe you'd like to, you know, go fly around the clouds together?" She asked and in that moment she looked like a serene goddess.

"So she really did it…" Summer sighed happily seeing them mount their birds.

"Did what?" Nick asked.

"Oh she told me she was going to ask Link for a bird ride, just the two of them if he won." Summer laughed rolling over from her stomach to her back and looking up at Nick who was sitting.

"And what?" He asked.

"Oh that's it." She lied and he smiled. He placed his arm on his knee and looked out as his brother took off. He casted his eyes back to Summer.

"You think you maybe want to go for a bird ride to?" He asked.

"I'd love to, great idea Nick. Then maybe we can eavesdrop on them." She giggled like a child and dashed off.

"Hey wait for once! You're hurt!" He called and hurried after her as they ran across the grass giggling like they were kids again playing tag.

* * *

Link and Zelda where taking a casual ride, and Nick refused to let Summer go fast with her ankle. So Nick and Summer rode far off to the side and completely forgot about spying in on Link and Zelda's conversations.

Summer was lazily laying on her bird since she was unable to grip its sides with her feet.

"Something's in the air today." She told him.  
"What sort of something?" He asked.

"I think it's magic." She sat up and breathed in the crisp air that was intertwining its fingers through her long hair under her crown. She was still in her royal attire, but that never really seemed to stop her.

"Don't you just wish you could just stop time? Just live in a moment forever?" She asked and held up a hand as if she was asking the goddess of time to pause for a second, but the gods never have mercy.

"It's like all the time the world is spinning around you and your just running to keep up. Your trying to keep up with everything, but then once and awhile your first in the race against time and fate and everything. You're so far ahead of it all you get to stop running and just go at your own pace. Those moments feel like magic." Her voice was being carried to him by the winds. He smiled and he felt that this was the moment, the time he was waiting for.

"Summer, I love—" He was cut off by her sudden knife like scream.

* * *

Zelda and Link's birds where gliding across the sky. Link was a bit ahead of Zelda, and she was trying to work up her courage. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. She looked over at Link who was loving the simple feel of the breeze on his face and knew she never felt stronger about him then at moments like that.

"…Link? Hey, Link!" She called and flew up by him. He turned to look at her.

"Today has just been amazing. Watching you win the race and performing the ritual together… I'll always remember this. It was truly wonderful." She told him and he smiled and nodded in agreement. She looked away for a second and tried her best to hide her troubled look. She flew even closer to him.

"You know… Link…" She took another sharp breath and forced herself to continue.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about…" She was stopped by a thunderous blast.

* * *

**Author's Note: This took a lot longer than I originally thought. Anyway, questions, suggestions, comments, advise, constructive criticism, reviews and anything at all are welcomed and greatly appreciated. Please don't be mean though. Comments really inspire me to write more and faster so if you want more chapters faster they will help. Thank you for reading this story and the author notes as well! See you guys again soon!**

**Next chapter deadline is 5-19-13. The chapter will be up sometime between the publishing of this chapter and the deadline date at 11:59 PM (Pacific time). Thank you for your support and patience.**


	5. Chapter 4: Secret Fates

**Author's note: well I got this up a whole week early and I'm working on some concept design and artwork of this book that I plan on releasing after I've finished writing it. I hope you all had a happy mothers day! So without further delays here is the story!**

**Review responses: _To total nerd girl- _Thank you so much for the review! Summer's outfit was actually designed after an antique music box I own, inside it is a fairy girl and I always loved the dress she wears. I've been wondering if the dialogue in the story sounded to similar to the actual game, so I tried to switch it up a bit. Thank you for the suggestion and what not! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Legend of Zelda or any of its cannon plot and characters. The Legend of zelda franchise is the property of Nintendo and all credit is given to all proper parties. This is a fan story and gaining no profit in any way. The writer of this story only owns any original characters and original plots created by the writer. The writer does own the characters of Summer, Zelda, and King Fotia. Thank you. **

* * *

Chapter 4

Secret Fates

It was like a ball of light exploded in front of their faces, and they instinctively shut their eyes. Their birds began to shriek and flap their wings hoping to regain control of their own flights. When they reopened their eyes, what awaited them was massive tornado. The worst flying conditions they've ever had where only windstorms, but this was a twisting monstrosity.

"What is that thing?!" Zelda yelped and they all desperately commanded their birds back. Despite the birds most frantic flying, the slicing currents where pulling the birds in.

"We can't outfly it!" Summer shrieked as her and Nick's birds where being pulled down. Zelda's bird was built for speed, and lacked serious muscle strength. Her bird's wing power was fading fast. Link's bird was powerful enough to pull away, even if it was slowly.

"What's with these winds?!" Zelda shrieked.

"What did we do to Hylia?!" Summer yelled looking up at the heavens. Her bird may not be fast or have endurance, but its powerful muscle was pulling them out against the winds. Nick's Loftwing was dependable and long-lasting, but not in such extreme conditions.

The sapphire Loftwing's body finally gave out and was dragged down by the hungry tornado. Zelda's reins snapped and the only thing to make it out of the wind was her screams and the call of Link's name. She outstretched her hand with a blind hope his own hand could somehow grab it.

Nick lost focus only for a moment when he heard Zelda. That's all it took for his Loftwing to fall victim and spin out of control down after her. In that second it's like the time goddess finally heard Summer's prayer from earlier and slowed down time. All the chaos fell silent. All she heard as she yanked her Loftwings reins towards the tornado was Nick's shouts of terror. In another second the horror returned in full swing and she realized she was speeding right at the monster that swallowed her friends.

Zelda's blind hope must have infected Link because he was dashing at where she fell as if he could still grab her hand. Summer smacked into the storm like it was a solid rock. Nick and Zelda must have been sucked in at just the right time in order for the winds to accept them inside. A split second before Link suffered the same fate as Summer; she was launched at him like a cannonball. They last thing they both felt was the sickening feeling of absence. As a part of living we always are having our presence constantly being validated by being in contact with something. There in the suspended air and nothing physical left to tell them they were in fact real, they lost themselves.

* * *

They found themselves caught in their mind's interpretation of nothing, and they were slowly fading into a dream state where the gods could contact and speak to them. They both where falling in a seemingly infinite ebony emptiness, with the strangeness of an unnerving absolute silence.

"Link…" The strange call broke Link's nothing state and made him open his eyes. The words were spoken in the ancient tongue of the gods. A dead language Skyloftians where forced to study and learn in school.

"Summer..." This voice was a different one, but it still had the same underlying tone. Summer felt her own body stir by the call of it as she began to flutter her eyes open as well.

Above Link was a silhouette of a woman, with her arms outstretched and feet firmly together. Her body formed the shape of the letter t. A pale purple aura surrounded her figure, and she looked like a pale comet being thrust up towards the heavens.

"I am expecting you. Your time has come for you to bring back what was once one. You are vital to begin our cycles to keep them whole." The radiating silhouette vaguely proclaimed to him.

Summer was greeted by a different figure. This one was of a white and gold pattern. She looked as if she was in the middle of a ballet. Her arms held up over her head and the tips connected at the top. Her legs where firmly together but her feet turned outwards and hung loosely. A pale light emitted from her body, and she looked like a shooting star in the form of an arrow being launched across the dark sky.

"I am waiting to meet you. Your time has come for you to begin your role as the common factor. You are essential for ensuring the fates work as they are meant to." The pale figure announced to her.

When Link blinked he was met by the face of Zelda. She was falling at the same peaceful pace that he was except she was above him. Her face seemed like she was being forced to tell him good bye when she still had hope she wouldn't have to. Her arms slowly began to fall from her sides to in front of her. The soft breeze violently shifted and the black world faded into a sky of gray blotted clouds. He realized she was falling ahead of him. A sick eerie feeling shook up his insides and he felt them picking up more and more speed. She began to hold up her hand. He fought against the air friction to try and grab it this time; to redeem himself for failing before. He was too late before it even started. Her screams replayed in his ears as she outstretched her arms in waiting for her chosen hero to pull her away from fate's cruel clutches. He watched as he let her down again and left her to be swallowed and sucked away by a vicious black monster.

Summer was running through the woods. She was running like she was going to jump into the arms of her daddy and he would stop whatever the invisible thing was that was hunting her down. He would take her back up to the castle and tell her stories about when she was young and stories about Skyloft before her time. Together they would take strolls through the past they chose to remember instead of fighting off the demons attacking the present only to be inevitably defeated by the future.

Summer waned from her visions to the real world. She was re welcomed into reality shaking, and hyperventilating. She gripped and clasped at the sheets before her father's voice served as proof that she was not alone. As he calmed her she had a vague awareness of Link's own eyes shooting open.

Link's torso rose off the bed like a sling shot as he took in his surroundings and told himself it was just a dream. After a moment or two of him trying to wave the fog away in his head he realized Headmaster Gaepora by his bedside and to his left Summer was being soothed by her father and attended to by the house mother. They both were in Link and Nick's shared double dorm, which had been temporarily turned into a makeshift infirmary. Link was in his bed and Summer in Nick's. The folded wall normally separating their space was pushed back for the time.

"Calm yourself, you're not behaving like the strong daughter I know you are. Those who are strong have a disciplined control over their body and a strict control of their emotions." Fotia voiced his expectations to her and she tried her best to live up to them. The house-mother at the same time was making her drink water and wiping away her sweat. She was soon reduced to shivering in her bed covers.

"…Ah so they both are now awake." The Headmaster stood from his chair and looked to the two frightened teens.

"When your faithful birds carried you back you both where limp and unconscious." Gaepora explained.

"I was petrified I had lost my daughter." Fotia sighed in relief as he looked over at his obviously alive daughter.  
"Yes, we both had feared the very worse-case scenarios even though you appeared with no serious outwardly injuries, as us older pessimistic folk tend to do." Gaepora agreed.

"The fact that you two are both still functioning is something we shall send thanks to the gods for." Fotia nodded his head. It was then Link and Summer both knew that their friends really were ripped from their grasp.

Summer nearly started hyperventilating again but her father's words echoed in her ears and she kept her breathing quietly to herself. It was all so surreal, she almost felt numb.

Link tore his gaze from Gaepora and looked at his lap in shame. How could he even stand to look her father in the face?

"But, Link… where's Zelda? She was with you… was she not? What has become of my precious daughter?" Gaepora rarely got emotional but his deeply rooted paternal side was blossoming from his desperation; because for once he did not have all the information, and needed to know the facts of on one thing dearest to him.

Link avoided most eye contact but occasionally saw the eyes of her father as he retold the horror best her could.

"It took Nick too." Summer added softly, and she hadn't ever had her voice low in her life.

Gaepora took in all this information and sat back on his chair with his arms crossed. He exchanged a look with Fotia that went unnoticed by the younger pair. The Headmaster let out a painful moan. He shook his head until it collapsed in his hands.

"It was a black windstorm? Are you positive?" Fotia questioned.

"That was no ordinary windstorm." Gaepora added.

"You don't really think so Gaepora? I mean these kids had an accident. They probably knocked their heads around and are still in shock! They probably have no idea what they are saying! You probably aren't in the best state of sanity now after hearing this tragedy." Fotia argued. The Headmaster pondered something for a quick moment then stood returning to his worried state.

Summer started shoving the covers off. She couldn't take this anymore. Link was already siting up and slipping on a boot by the time she had managed to sit up.

"Summer you need rest!" Fotia pulled his daughter back on the bed.

"I need to do something." She pleaded.  
"You listen here young lady you may be a queen not but I'm still your dad and I'm still in charge of you. You lay down right now." Summer was not used to that harsh frustrated tone in her father.

"It is impulsive and illogical and dangerous to be pushing yourself now Link. You're still recovering and you will need your full strength to help us later." Gaepora reasoned with the boy and he looked at the floor solemnly.

"Tell me… when you were with my daughter today did anything about her seem… out of the ordinary?" Gaepora asked.

"Gaepora you cannot possibly actually-" Fotia was cut off by the headmaster.

"With all due respect I am asking the children here." He replied.  
"Well… when we found my loftwing behind the waterfall… she thought someone was calling her. Then she started talking about the surface." Link explained... it felt like forever ago.

"This morning when we were at the statue she thought she heard something to…" Summer recalled.

"Hmm… I see. She spoke of the surface did she?" Gaepora replied.

"Haven't you been recently giving her lessons on the legends of old? You said how interested in that she was." Fotia pointed out.

"How about you two and what of Nick? Have you two noticed any changes recently? Anything odd?" He asked.

"Dreams…" Summer mentioned.

"More like visions." Link agreed.

"You've had them too?" Summer asked surprised.

When they finished explaining the crazy dreams they have had, Gaepora seemed lost in thought for a moment longer than normal.

"How interesting…" He contemplated and then looked to the two youths.

"Forgive me; I lost myself for a moment there. It's all quite bizarre, but I highly doubt there is any connection at all between these happenings." Gaepora told them and placed a hand on Link's shoulder.

"Gaepora you are just giving these kids crazy ideas and entertaining their delusional thoughts." Fotia scolded standing up.

"You're right Fotia. I am just worried for my dear Zelda, but as long as her loftwing is with her, I'm sure she can manage till we find her." Gaepora agreed.

"For now daybreak has yet to be upon us. We couldn't look for anyone or anything as it is now. Besides you two have had a long hard day and have a need for rest and recovery. It's too dangerous and difficult to spot one girl and her bird in the dead darkness of night. We will start the search in the morning." Fotia decided.

"Nick was taken too, remember?" Summer practically hissed.

"Oh I know princess. We will look for him tomorrow too." Fotia replied, and Summer held her tongue about her title as queen.

"Call the house mother if you need anything. I'll be back in the morning to take you to the castle. I love you." Fotia kissed his daughter on the forehead and walked with Gaepora to the door.

"Please rest both of you. Zelda and Nick both shall be fine. They are both alive, I know it." Gaepora nodded, but his confidence in his daughter's wellbeing didn't seem to come from denial of the possibilities but as would be expected; on some sort of fact.

So the two fathers left the youths to themselves, but not long after they heard the last footsteps of the men disappearing did they hear a familiar voice. It was the women from their dreams, calling for them. It was like their voice was seeping through the crack of the door. Maybe those women weren't part of a crazy delusion of their trauma shocked brains.

The two teens exchanged looks to seek conformation that the other heard it. Link stood up from his bed and stared at the door in a puzzled awe. It was like that sound brought Summer back as close as to her original state as possible. That's when she realized her dress and crown was gone. Instead she wore her comfortable casual attire. Her father must have been considerate enough to not put her in another one of her 'casual dresses' as he put it. She hurried to her feet as Link had done.

That call came a second time, Summer briefly speculated it was a ghost but she knew it wasn't. The air had grown eerie and tense, and vocal communication of their emotions was not needed. They both knew that they must follow.

After a shared glance and nod they crept towards the door.

"Whatever is there, keep your lips shut." Summer whispered softly to Link, but it was mostly a command for herself.

As they silently slipped out Sumer broke her own vow and gasped. For at the base of the staircase floated a pale blue and purple woman. The other white and gold figure from her visions sat at the top.

"I know her." Link and Summer both breathed out at the same time. They realized they were both looking at opposite figures.

"You so that one?" He asked and pointed to the white one. She nodded.

"They want us to follow them." She replied wide-eyed. He took the first step towards the stairs and as they came to the cerulean girl she floated up and past the white. When they came to the white it did the same, flying back past the blue to the academy doors that led outside. The blue and white flew through the door like it not even there. Summer turned the door handle slowly and they slipped out.

The chilly night air immediately fell over Summer in a million tiny nips. The moon that night was a gold color, and hung over the statue's head like a halo. She shivered and the figures continued their pattern. The girls did not once take their cold empty eyes off of them as they lead the teens to the Statue of the Goddess.

The two floating females both stopped at the statues base. They stayed in front of a flat stone panel inscribed with the Skyloftian crest. The two went through the wall in the same fashion as they had the wooden doors earlier.

The panel suddenly became covered in vines, and a moment later those vines burst into fire. From the top of the panel splash of water fell over the fire and doused it with a sizzle. The panel had disappeared, leaving a perfect entrance to the hollow statue.

They had never known the statue to be hollow, but they were coming to realize they did not know many things. The room was round and a sanctuary was outlined with what once were glorious white and golden columns. Those columns now have deteriorated to worn down gray stone with scuffed golden trims and intricate etchings. Two vaguely familiar bird statues sat by the entrance. The floor was a pale peach color with a white and golden ring around a platform. In the center of the platform sat a pedestal with a sword trapped inside.

A little bit behind that was another sacred resting place of a different form. There was another raised platform, but it wasn't as big nor a circle. Instead it was more of a shrine embedded into the wall. A large rectangular area was carved out and lined with silver. There a quiver holding arrows and a bow where hung. Two silver pots of undying fire sat on each side of the platform. On the wall there where complicated etchings, and the scrawl of the gods ancient written language.

The sword and bow where both coated in a holy light. The sword had a light blue handle with a sapphire trimmed with gold in the middle. The bow-string looked like it was made of a spider's silky thread woven together in braids, and the arrows of pure silver bathed in a radiant light. Summer gasped as the white and silvery girl from before appeared before her. She felt herself being mesmerized and pulled by her towards the back shrine.

Link soon fell to the same trance as the blue figure burst from the sword and twirled into the musty air. She sat down on the pedestal and sat up to face him. The white one stood in front of the arrows and both the figures finally allowed the Skyloftians to approach them.

The blue ones metallic hair had side swept bangs, two chunks that framed her face, and her short hair flipped up at the bottom. Her legs where a dark purple with blue ribbons crisscrossing over them, and she wore no shoes. Her arm robe was folded three times then flowed down to her knees with ruffles lining it. They covered her arms completely, almost like they were attached. Her right side of the arm robe was blue and the other purple. Her dress was the same shade of purple as well with two gold strips running down it. A cerulean diamond-shaped gem was right in the middle of her chest. The gem was surrounded by gold and her arm robes seemed to flow from it. Her dress appeared to be thicker fabric than the rest of her and she seemed expressionless.

The sword behind her had a light blue handle with a similar blue gem as the woman's. The blade had a simple handle and decorative bottom piece. It was also glowing faintly.

The other woman had silver hair. It appeared to actually be made up of silky strands. It was woven in a braid that fell all the way to the back of her knees. It was wrapped at the top with a white headdress that kept the hair from touching the back of her body. The head-piece was a simple design of a small wing on either side of the hair like a bird's body. Her hair came to a thin sharp widow's peak, but like the other she had two chunks framing her face. Around the braid was short hair that flipped at the ends much like the cerulean one did. The braid bottom was tied off with a sort of strange ruby clip, and from that clip her hair swooped out in the same shape as her headdress. Her face, majority of the dress, and legs were white. She had two arm robes, but they didn't connect at the center and there was no gem. The arm robe was curved at the tops over the shoulder and fell with jagged lines around it instead of ruffles. They looked like a comet. Over her legs where golden ribbons crisscrossed in the same pattern as her counterpart. Her dress was very similar to the other's to, instead of gold strips it was silver. The main difference was that with no gem a swooping collar was seen. Both the top and bottom of the dress where silver.

The bow behind her was both exquisite and simple. The string looked like woven strands of a spider's silky thread. Rubies connected the string to the bow and a wing design was at the top and bottom of the bow. The curved parts where white wrapped in golden ribbon and the handle was all white. On the top and bottom of the handle was a golden comet that connected the handle and the rest of the bow.

The arrows where as plain as any other ones, only silver and sat in a white quiver with a basic golden base and simple top design. From the inside of the quiver there was a sort silvery fog trapped inside.

Both of the women wore no shoes and both seemed equally expressionless.

"The ones whom our creator's blood has left to us." The cerulean one spoke first.

"We have been expecting our meeting. You shall be the filler's for the divine roles of destiny." The white continued.

"As to respectably follow the lines of your social customs, we shall give our face identities. Fi Socius was the name bestowed upon my head." Fi introduced herself.

"I was named Lux Socius. We are sisters to one another." Lux identified herself.

"We were both created for a sole purpose, long before the recording of history began with your kind." Fi explained.

"We are to aid in the task of filling the destiny that was placed upon your fates." Lux nodded.

"Come now. You must take up this sword from its stone bed. The bow must be pulled from its walled room. As the ones crafted from our creators, it is the start of your destiny." Fi explained. However, Link hesitated and Summer was as unmoved as a boulder.

"The strange dreams that haunt your sleep. Our own selves suddenly real to you when before we were just strange symbols of your visions. The sharp increase of sudden mystery surrounding your dear ones. This reaction is a rational response." Lux concluded.

"With the situation circumstance factors, it is only logical you would be very hesitant. To increase the pull factor and lower your reasons behind your uncertainty, allow us to share some information." Fi agreed. Both Summer and Link looked questioningly at the strange women.

"Our observations strongly suggest that this information would be of very high importance to you and thus alter your emotional state. The ones you are planning to seek, honored Zelda and chivalrous Nick, are both still alive." Lux announced.

Summer and Link dropped their scowls and awed gazes. They smiled and looked at each other, they did not question the integrity of the information once.

"The spirit maiden… the one you have named Zelda… has already started her journey through her role in this fate. This fate is the same great mission you two must take a part in." Fi further explained.

"If you really wish to see your close ones, it is highly advised you take up these tools before you set out on your journey after them. Does this advise motivate you?" Lux asked.

"Are you any more inspired to accept these weapons?" Fi further questioned.

Being their impulsive selves They both dashed in front of the objects. As they did Fi flew up above Link and Lux behind Summer.

"I see further persuasive facts shall not be needed." Lux commented.

"In the name of our creator, awake the sword and point it skyward in her honor." Fi commanded.

"In her name draw an arrow to the sky." Lux explained.

Link let his fingers curl around the blade handle, and Summer unlatched the quiver's thick strap. As Link began to pull the blade up, Summer threw the quiver strap over her right shoulder and under her left arm. When the tip of the blade hit the air Summer held in her hands the bow.

They noticed a faint pure white light leaking in the ceiling. But this statue was made of solid stone, and it was the middle of the night. This light was something else entirely. Summer fastened the arrow on the string and drew it back effortlessly, Link held up his sacred sword to bask in the light as well. Both silver tips began to be coated in the light. They both stared in an excited wonder. Summer's quiver started to fill with a silvery fog. Link's blade started to shine brilliantly, like it was crafted from the moon's reflexive surface.

"Recognition complete, Master."

"Recognition complete, Mistress." Spoke Fi and Lux at the same time.

"Link… My master." Fi seemed to be confirming and testing out the new name to herself.

"Mistress Summer…" Lux tested as well.

As the two brought down their weapons for a moment they gazed at them. Link studied his new sword in front of his face and Summer looked down at the bow hanging from her palm, it was surprisingly a perfect weight for long travels but not to light as to hold no force.

A moment later they heard a familiar voice.

"Link! Summer!" Gaepora gasped breaking them from their trance. He stared at them in a rare look of shock but as an emotional look always does with the headmaster, it dropped immediately. He suddenly looked all business again.

"I had my suspicions, but until this moment I thought it was to surreal. Yet here we stand in the Chamber of the Banes, the place foretold the youths of legend would appear. It is said this place was made specifically for the people by the great sky goddess herself. The very piece of knowledge of this chamber's existence was passed down through only a few blood lines, along with some oral words." Gaepora explained and they turned to him. Summer began to walk over to join them.

"_When the light of the goddess sword radiates, and the arrows of the shooting stars are aglow, the great apocalypse shall be stirred from its slumber. Do not fret, for those youths who take up these items, will be guided by my hand. They shall reveal themselves in a sacred place that is bathed with my holy presence."_ Gaepora recited the words and stepped closer.

"Days ago, these things I've always kept hidden loyally for all these years… A faint otherworldly light was begining to seep off of their surfaces. At first I was in a sort of denial, despite my knowledge the day would come. I always believed the day was not yet here. I assumed I was seeing things, during my time alone here maybe my eyes were playing tricks. It seemed the only explanation was too hard. I knew it, but I never really admitted or acknowledged that the prophecies of this legend would come to pass in my term here." He then looked to the two sisters floating above their new masters.

"The words that have only ever existed within my mind are coming to reality before my very eyes. _The youths will be guided by ones tied to the bow and blade—ones who are as youthful and sacred to that of their holders…but hold knowledge without boundaries." _Gaepora finished his reciting.

"Yes, the very popular but least reliable method of effectively communicating information. Usually it is varied in each version spoken." Lux commented.  
"It appears the most critical sections of the passage have been forgotten over the passing of generations." Fi agreed and the two sisters floated back close to the ground. The Skyloftians looked at each other in surprise.

"_The youth who draws forth the blade is the one that has been born from a maiden of healing. It is he who holds the unbreakable core and unwavering focus." _Fi started.

"_The youth who draws the bow is the one that has been born by a king of strength is she who holds the fiery fighting spirit and the adaptation to survive." _Lux spoke.

"_He is burdened with the task of driving away the stains of the apocalypse from the land. Such is his destiny." _Fi continued.

"_She is burdened with the task of ensuring each cleansing of the land. Such is her fate." _Lux went on.

"_With the spirit of the blade by his side, he shall soar over clouds and plummet below…" _Fi foretold.

"_With the spirit of the bow on her back, she shall skirt on the edges of the world and dive into the fray of them." _Lux recited.

"_He, united with the spirit maiden, shall bring forth a piercing light that resurrects the land." _Fi finished.

Link and Summer said nothing, they did not even look at each other. No matter how vague, the future is too scary to be warned about. Zelda suddenly appeared in Link's mind. When she chuckled and looked at him after they found his loftwing.

"_Some of father's old texts talk about a place called the surface. They say it's a place far below, far more vast than Skyloft!" _She was gone again and he realized where she and his brother had been taken, and he was going there too.

Summer remembered peaking to Nick once about the same matter. When they were kids, she would sneak peeks at the one book her father owned. It was like the bible of their people. She would tell Nick about how she saw one part where someone was falling through clouds to something below.

"_You're crazy Summer ya know that? But I that's what keeps things interesting around here." _He had laughed and challenged her to race up an apple tree. A race he already knew he'd lose.

"Mistress, you must embark on a grand journey." Lux interrupted their daydreams.

"You shall go beneath the clouds to the vast realm of the surface." Fi told them.

"It is only with this journey can you fulfill the mission set before you by my creator." Lux continued.

"Once your roles are completed, you shall be reunited with your loved ones. This is the only method for you to see honored Zelda and chivalrous Nick again." Fi finished.  
"Well that's that then." Summer sighed and shrugged.

"Summer, don't think this is such a light task. It will not be easy by any means. The world below has for long been a forsaken place. To reach it you must somehow find a way through the venomous cloud barrier and not somehow suffocate." Gaepora argued, "In living memory, no one has ever done that."

Fi and Lux suddenly flew to the back of the room where the walled shrine that held the arrows where. The two sisters faced each other and raised their arms. A section of a strange tablet appeared. The tablet pressed into the wall perfectly where the bow previously was. The tablet appeared to only be a section of it though.

"This tablet will guide a path through the clouds to the world below." Fi stated.

"It is the emerald tablet, and shall lead you to the forest area." Lux explained.

"As we have recognized you, we shall now travel as is our duty. Where ever that may take us." Fi started.  
"We shall reside in our weapons when not needed and accompany you. Please summon us when you need assistance." Lux finished. They suddenly turned into small puffs of light and flew into their respective weapons.

"We have an hour before daylight. We will leave then. To avoid suspicion." Summer stated.  
"Listen for a moment please. The nature of these events mentioned in the old texts are nothing but a mystery. Whatever it turns out to be I hope you are prepared. I think all of you have a big role in the destiny of this land. If what the spirits say is honestly true, Nick and Zelda are alive! They are likely coming to terms with their own fate that the sky goddess has laid for them. Should you go, these dangers could be anything. Especially down there… But if you really want to brave the unknown… please bring my daughter safely to me. Everything seen here today contains no real explanation. But this is the start of a journey. Please prove the legends true." He begged.

"Of course." Summer stated before Link could even answer.

"I-I guess we better hurry then." Link agreed.

"You serve your people loyally. You make us all proud." Gaepora praised.  
"Dawn is drawing near." Summer pointed out.  
"It has been a long night for us all." Link sighed.

"You have a great journey ahead. Your clothes and supplies… they won't cut it. We should hurry back to the academy and prepare. The uniforms made in case you win are ready. A sturdy thing like that will be much more suitable and functional." Gaepora decided.

"Right." They both nodded.

As Link left, Summer grabbed Gaepora's sleeve.

"Don't tell my father I'm leaving." She asked and he nodded.

* * *

Sumer looked over the green uniform, as she got dressed in Nick's room. The separating wall was pulled out again and Link was getting dressed on the other side in his own room. The female variation of the uniform was crafted just in case she won. It had a longer tunic but instead of pants it was white shorts that hid under the tunic. Even Summer knew it was a horrible clash to wear big brown boots and then a short tunic with shorts. But whatever, she could do combat in it and travel just fine. Who cared if it looked odd? It was perfectly functional.

The boots there made of some thick tough material, and the soles where as thick as a book. She tied up her bland hair with her toughest red hair band and Gaepora was considerate enough to include an archery arm guard with her outfit. She slipped four bobby pins in her boot, you never know if you would have to pick a lock. She tightened the strap of her quiver and surveyed herself in the mirror when she heard Link ask if she was done.

After she said yes and he said he was done she slipped into his side of the room.

"To be honest I wasn't sure on the color. But oddly enough, seeing you in it Link, I can't imagine a more fitting outfit. It's like you were born to wear it." Gaepora commented.  
"I still think red would be better, but Lux said we are going to the forest so green blends more." Summer commented.

"I think we should take my mother's old medical book." Link said suddenly.  
"You mean the book Nick studies from?" Summer asked shocked.  
"That thing has all sorts of herbs and plants, first aid, what to eat and what not to eat… It's perfect." Link sighed.  
"I don't know if Nick would like that…" Summer hesitated.  
"Come on, if it would help you he would want you to take it." Link pointed out.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped.

"Both of you better get used to being together. Try to avoid fights at all costs. You two are good friends, but stress and high tension can be devastating." Gaepora advised.  
"Fine, we'll take it." Summer sighed and grabbed the thick book.

"But how do you expect me to carry it?" She asked.

"I've already arranged that. Fledge has a present for you two. He hadn't originally done i for this purpose but he said he wanted to give it to you. Thought you would need it more." Gaepora explained.

"I see." Link nodded.

"Take care you two, and go into the sparring hall. I believe we have an extra shield there you may have Link. The travels ahead aren't going to be the best, and while you are gone I will study hard to look for information about all this. Stop by if you have a problem. You all shall be in my prayers. May the sky goddess watch over you both." Gaepora encouraged and sent them off.

* * *

"Hey guys! That green uniforms look so… adventurous! Just like a knight." Fledge had caught them just as he was slipping out.

"I already know you are going after Nick and Zelda. I could never do something like that, I can't even imagine it. So I've been making this satchel for a while… and I think you guys should have it. I tried to make it my best." Fledge handed Link a brown thick satchel.

"I would be honored to carry such a high quality bag." Summer praised.

"You can fit quite a bit in there, and it's sturdy. I just know you guys are gonna get Nick and Zelda back." Fledge encouraged.

"Thanks Fledge, you're going to be a great knight someday. " Link smiled and Fledge grinned.

"I've got some stuff of the bare essentials in my room. We will put those in the bag." Summer decided.

"Why do you get to take your stuff?" Link inquired.

"I'm not taking personal things. Just essentials, like hygiene things. Its stuff we will both use." She explained.

"Good thing I grabbed my toothbrush, but still why your stuff?" He asked again.

"Because as a royal family member my items are high quality and durable." She reasoned, but she just didn't want to walk back to Link's room.  
"Somebody is being snobby." He teased. "And since it's your stuff you get to carry the satchel." He proclaimed as they slipped into her room.

"Oh so you're gonna make me carry everything?" She groaned.  
"Please?" He smiled.  
"Fine." She sighed and began to fill the satchel with the bare essentials like she promised. A hairbrush, extra hair ties, a wash cloth, the medical book, and both her and Link's tooth brushes.

"It's going to be tough being together all day for however long this lasts. It's going to be stressful and scary but Gaepora is right. We aren't going to get anywhere if we are fighting and ripping each other's heads off. When we get to the surface, we should set some ground rules okay?" She decided.

"You sound like your dad." Link said suddenly, and Summer froze for a moment.

"Oh be quiet you big knuckle head. You don't know what you're talking about." She teased.

Before she left, she took one last long look around her room. She already knew she was forgetting something.  
"I need to do one more thing." She hurried inside and snatched her toy stuffed fox.

She had slept with that thing every night since she was born. She knew it would take up space…but how could she just leave it behind? As she finally went to leave she left behind on her bed a note to her father.

"Sometimes Summer you sure surprise me." Link grinned as he saw her slip the toy fox in the bag.  
"Shut it you." She snapped and off they went.

As Headmaster Gaepora advised they visited the sparring hall. There they took a shield for themselves, and off they went out of the academy.

* * *

Dawn's veil of light was beginning to rise over the sky, and the dew upon the grass shined like tiny unharvestable diamonds that sink back into the world by the time the Skyloftians awoke. Blue butterflies where just awaking and stretching their thin cerulean wings. They walked along the dirt road in secret, the country of Skyloft was resting but was soon to stir. So they wasted no time mounting their birds, and did not once dare to look back.

* * *

**Author's note: I swear I would have had this up way sooner but I hate editing... I kept letting myself ge distracted. In the next chapter we shall reach the surface and I'm already pumped to get to write about that. As always, reviews and comments of any type are extremely appreciated and the best motivators for more chapters quicker! Also in this chapter we met another one of my OC's named Lux Socius, Fi's sister. I gave Fi the last name as well since they are related. Lux's character has changed a lot from when I first imagined her. What I was sorta bummed about in Skyward Sword is that it never gave the back story on the silver/light arrows Zelda often wields and is seen a lot. So I thought I'd add that in there. It's going to be interesting to try to develop her and Fi to slowly grow more emotional and less robotic. Anyway thank you for reading this story as well as my little notes. It means a lot and if you could please drop a review to I'd be very happy!**

**Next chapter deadline is 6-2-13. The next chapter will be up sometime between the publishing of this chapter and the deadline date at 11:59 (Pacific time). Thank you for your support and patience. **


	6. Chapter 5: The Forest

**Well I've lost all credibility to meet deadlines... ugh but now that summer's out I'll likely be better at it (hopefully). So here is the new chapter, and sorry for the wait!**

**Review Responses:**

_**To Total-Nerd-Girl: **_**Thanks for the review! It is always nice to see Link with companions... when they aren't to irritating anyway. I appreciate you taking the time to consider and review my story!**

_**To cleaskulty: **_**Thank you for your constructive criticism! I'm surprised with being the serious fangirl of Zelda I am that I used the older version of Ganondorf's name. Hopefully I cleared up the plot hole. As you mentioned, the one who makes the wish gets the piece they personify the best. The other two go to who ever best represents those pieces. So what if the gods already chose who each piece would go to if they got sent out? It was already predestined who the pieces would end up with. Since Ganondorf received power, wisdom and courage went out and ended up with Link and Zelda. The ones the gods chose for those two pieces to go to. So what if for some reason Ganondorf got wisdom? Then where would power go? That's where Summer comes in, and hopefully I fixed up the plot hole and explained it better. I am also working on my paragraphing and what not like you suggested. Thank you for helping me out, I appreciate it a lot and hopefully it helps improve my story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Legend of Zelda or any of its cannon plots, and characters. The Legend of Zelda franchise is the property of Nintendo and all credit is given to all proper parties. This is a fan story, and the creator is gaining no profit in any way. The writer of this story exclusively owns any of their own original plots and characters created by the writer. The writer does own the characters of Summer, Nick, King Fotia, and Lux. Thank you.**

* * *

Chapter 5

The Forest

The typical morning air didn't seem to slice at them like it did in the afternoon; it seemed to stay more suspended and foggy. Almost like the air itself was in a morning daze. They mounted their birds with less of the zest that usually came over a young Skyloftian when they take off on their birds.

"How are we supposed to find one hole in the entire cloud layer anyway?" Summer asked over the winds of the speedy birds.

"Please follow us." Lux and Fi stated appearing from the weapons and in front of the loftwings. They guided the group towards the small hole in the barrier. The only way anyone could spot it is if you were flying close to the clouds and staring down.

"Master Link, before us lies a hole in which you can access the surface." Fi stated.

"However, your birds are not adapted to the surface. You may not take them down with you." Lux informed.

"You both must dive off your birds to the surface." Fi continued.  
"Are you kidding me?" Summer groaned.  
"Can our sails really still hold up? It looks like it's very far down…" Link observed.  
"Yes, they can still allow for a safe landing from this distance." Lux answered.

As they flew over the hole they looked at each other before they launched themselves off of their Loftwings. They quickly turned over so they had their stomachs facing the surface and stretched out their limbs like they had been taught to do when they landed from far up. They struggled to keep their arms level with their bodies, and Summer's pony tail streamed behind her like Link's hat did.

They looked upon a strange green world appearing below them, and left the blue sky of their home behind. It was covered in grass far greener then the light patches in Skyloft, and the trees where massive. They had never felt so… small before.

They were soon face to face with the ground and quickly braced themselves as they pulled out their sailcloths. Summer's royal sailcloth couldn't even compare to the one Link got from Zelda. Her own cloth was too worn out and his just needed to be broken in a little. A jump like this was sure to do that.

They stumbled a little as their feet hit the ground. They never had stepped on real solid soil, and the land seemed endlessly stretched out before them.

The spot they landed on had beautiful moss growing out of the crevices of the strange ancient stones. They landed directly on a stone circle that had not yet been reclaimed by the forest. Perhaps it was once a platform, and was now worn down to the level of the rest of the ground. The whole area seemed like it was made in waiting for their landing.

Somehow, a beautiful fancy black gate remained untouched. It started from the natural wall of rock and suddenly stopped as the path turned into a peculiar spiral.

"Mistress Summer,"

"Master Link,"

"We've arrived." The sisters announced to the teens, who were feeling too many emotions to even begin to feel anything.

"This is the fabled surface from Skyloftian legends, and tales." Lux explained.

"By our measures, you are currently standing in a location known as the Sealed Grounds." Fi informed them.

They rushed to the black gate and looked over at the huge hole in the ground, which had a spiraled path running around it. Torches were attached to the pathway's walls. If you looked closely, you could see faded paintings.

The whole forest had an expansive, maze like mystery to it. Despite the heavy cloud barrier above, golden light leaked through and bathed the flora. In the north you could see a red glow, on a mountain. Even being so far away you could see it covered in smoke, and you could occasionally see the particles of ash float to the forest floor and reunite with the soil.

Fi and Lux turned back into little balls of light and resumed their place in the weapons.

"What should we do first?" Summer broke the silence.  
"We… We should look around. Learn what we can, and find a good spot to camp at." Link decided as they walked down the only path available to them.

Summer suddenly yelped and yanked Link back as a giant plant burst from its roots.

The plant waved its huge bulb like head back and forth, and its jaws were lined with sharp teeth. Its tongue hung out and a strange sappy fluid dripped from its mouth.

Link swung his sword randomly and sliced its mouth in half. It fell dead instantly.

"W-We need to be more careful…" Summer panted, her heart had jumped nearly out of her chest from the surprise.

"Ugh! We are idiots, we have no idea what is here. Anything could jump at us at any time." Link declared.  
"Come on, stress won't get us any closer to Nick and Zelda." Summer told him and they readied their weapons as they continued on.  
The path ended abruptly and there was a small drop. They slid down and came upon an ancient structure. It held up against the passage of time very well, with the exception of some fallen chunks of stone.

Before they could really get a look at the old building, they looked down the swirled indent in the ground. It seemed everything from their dreams where coming true, but their nightmares where dreams too.

The world pulsed briefly into a black and hazy state. The two teens looked around and at each other in wonder. Their eyes both made their way to the spiral like hole in the ground reluctantly.

They cautiously stepped forward and looked over the edge to a black circle at the bottom. From the circle leaked a horrid bubbles that dissolved into the air. A violent sudden gust of wind launched a sickly fog towards them. They blocked their faces as the unspeakable raw evil enveloped them. They fell into a deathly silence; and could see nothing but a bloody crimson color radiating around an ebony circle that the fog was leaking from.

Something zapped their foreheads and their brains exploded with a sudden throbbing, as if it was beating against their skulls. They groaned in pain and clutched their heads. When they managed to look up they saw the monster from their visions bursting from the floor and looming far above them. They grabbed their weapons as the beast looked down upon them with a satisfied smile. It began to bring its head down as if to crush them. They shut their eyes and readied themselves for impact, but it never came.

As they slowly lowered their arms and opened their eyes, the world seemed unchanged. It remained just as they left it, and no monster was in sight. They looked down at the circle, which no longer leaked the strange mist. A light breeze carrying a few fallen leaves blew and pointed them in the direction of the temple.

"Link… I've seen this place before…" Summer whispered.

"Me to…" Link murmured.

The building had patches of vines bearing wide leaves and ferns at its base. Two torches sat at each side, and the ceiling was a dome. The dome was cracked and appeared to hold half of a painting.

The door of the building was gray color, and on it were golden etchings. They circled a mark of an eye with a single teardrop falling from it and three triangles on top. The building was made of what seemed like marble, and carvings of it trimmed the entrance. A single gold circle, with the face and hair of the Sky goddess, sat at the top of the door.

"Mistress Summer, I have obtained Nick's aura by extracting similarities from Link's genetics. I now have a near copy of Nick's traceable aura." Lux announced bursting from the sword, closely followed by Fi.  
"Master Link, I detected an aura from you sailcloth. Based on your previous statements, I have concluded it belongs to Zelda." Fi explained.  
"We can follow these auras by a function known as dowsing. Are you aware of what dowsing is?" Lux questioned.  
"I think Nick or Zelda mentioned it once before… it sounds familiar." Link pondered.  
"By using the tip of your sword, or the tip of a readied arrow, you can use us to detect something you are searching for." Fi explained.

"The closer you get to an object emitting an aura, the stronger the response of your weapons will be." Lux added.

"The responses will be glowing, and if it is very strong a possible sound." Fi finished and they returned to their places as weapons.  
Summer drew an arrow and Link drew his sword to test out the 'dowsing.' Sure enough their weapons responded to the temple.

"Well we could have figured that one out on our own." Summer sighed and Link suppressed a light chuckle.

As they stepped closer to the doors, the golden etchings vanished and with their combined strength they were able to push them open and enter.

The interior of the temple was no less ancient and mysterious compared to the outside. The air was musty and nothing was spared from the expanding moss. The ground was hard from the underlying stone, but slippery from the vegetation. Vines slithered their way up the still standing columns, and at their bases there was dirty and scuffed up gold.

To the left was an arched entrance to a room. The room held a platform and a patch of deep brown soil. A few pots, and a trio of purposeful golden windows in the ceiling remained untouched by plants. The windows casted a sort of enchanted light upon the soil and a small chair was off to the side.

In front of them laid a small set of thin stairs, and they led to a small straight forward path. The path ended abruptly in a gap, and across the gap was a circle platform. Just beyond that was a much larger staircase.

There were a few holes in the roof, most of them covered by tangled plants. Except one hole was fully exposed and casted a spotlight upon a strange figure. The figure sat at the top of the larger staircase patiently. The last thing the teens expected to see on the surface was a Skyloftian type being waiting for them.

They hurried to meet the person, and found her to be sitting quietly in front of a set of doors. She sat with her legs crossed and a huge pointed crimson hat sat upon her head. The hat had golden symbols on it that could easily be found in the area. Only the front of the hat ended at the bridge of her nose, while the rest extended down longer then the floor and covered the majority of her body.

They stopped their hasty dash at her and began to cautiously ascend the stairs to greet her politely. They got a closer look at the peculiar old woman. Her hair was the color of old straw, and was tightly woven in braids and wrapped around her head. Most of the hair was covered by the hat, and the braid fell over her shoulder. It swirled into a circle pattern before finally ending, and it swayed back and forth rhythmically. Her skin was sagged and leathery. It was a darker tint then what they normally saw, and two faded patches in the form of tear drops went over her cheeks. Her eyes where cover by her head pieces. Her neck adorned with a necklace of blue stones, and a nostalgic pink bracelet sat on her right wrist.

She sat with her hands folded, and had not once moved from her position since they entered.

"Oh… The explorers fallen from the cloud realm above. I welcome you, children of the gods." Finally, the women lifted her no doubt heavy head and looked up at them. Although, her eyes where still covered.

"Tell me, what labels do you bear?" She questioned.  
"I'm Link." Link replied.  
"And I'm Queen Summer of Skyloft." Summer answered.

"I see, the young knight and the Queen. Excellent. I can sense that you have already gained control over the sacred strength that fills your weapons when pointed skyward. The holy arrows and blade of the goddess is at your command. Those are obvious signs you are fit to bear these holy treasures of your people. I have sat here in waiting for many years for the grace of your presence. All so I may fill my role and act as your guide. What you stand under is the roof of the Sealed Temple, a place constructed and built by the goddess an eternity ago. Your appearance here was predestined, before time itself was set into motion. The spirit maiden and shrouded knight you seek arrived here shortly before you, and they descended into this land in a shower of light. The gears of fate have begun to turn. Yet all has not properly fallen into place. The spirit maiden and shrouded knight were not meant to fall to this land as they did. I feel a malicious power working in the depths of shadows. It strives to mold the destiny of which you play a main role. Link… Summer… You are concerned to the spirit maiden and shrouded knight. You seek their whereabouts, do you not?" The elderly woman asked, and the teens had not once dared to interrupt her as she spoke.

"Yes we do." Summer nodded.

"Do you know where they are?" Link asked.

"Your concern is understandable, but for now you must work on moving forward in your fate. The girl and boy have her own roles to fill, and as well as you two. They set out into the depths of the woods to discover their own fates. You must follow. Here is a map of the woods that you may take with you and use. This location here will lead you into the woods and on the trail of your dear ones. Remember this is an unfamiliar land. Many monsters have settled and made homes here. A map does not record those types of things, and you must account for problems and diversions that each route will hold. However do not give into your fears and worries easily. Stay strong at all costs if you wish to reach the spirit maiden and shrouded knight… the ones you have named Zelda and Nick. Don't forsake your own selves to this task, you must stay in your best shapes and stay as prepared as you can. You are now as ready as you can be, leave through the door over there. Head boldly into the woods, and I wish you safe journeys."

"But we still know so little…" Link sighed.

"Don't let your confusion distract you, all in the proper time will your questions be answered. Now hurry." The woman advised and sent them off.

* * *

The forest was a bizarre place for the misplaced travelers. The area was dense with monsters of trees, and the birds tiny enough to fight into your hand. All the plants where dispersed randomly over the land. The grasses would range from tall, to sort, to clumps, to patches, and in a rainbow of greens. Fruit grew on some trees, but instead of being harvested they would be eaten by strange creatures or fall to the floor to rot and be devoured by a swarm of insects.

The birds where tiny enough to cuddle into your palm, but flew away in terror of the Skyloftians. This world was getting too weird.

They passed under an archway and for the beginning they followed a pretty straight forward path. But that ease didn't last long, and soon the entered the real forest.

"Mistress Summer, welcome to Faron Woods." Lux appeared and gestured over the landscape.

"The excess of water in the region maintains the abundance and flourishing of the life here." Fi explained as they began to journey along.

"Including the biggest tree in the world, which is located in the center and many creatures journey to it to ask for its blessings. The lush plant life and resources here also have attracted many different animal species." Lux added.

"Zelda and Nick are also very likely in the area." Fi continued.  
"It is recommended you continue with your dowsing abilities." Lux advised and they disappeared.

It was mid-afternoon, and their feet where beginning to ache. They had imagined the whole journey would be action packed, but that was obviously false. Soon they came to a small clearing, and their ears picked up a strange brutish language. They looked around the corner, and spotted strange red goblin creatures. They were grumbling and squealing in their strange tongue, and waving around their jagged rusty swords. They had maroon leathery skin, and tuffs of white hair on their heads. They had strange brown clothes and where surrounding another different sort of creature.

The poor thing was quivering as the goblin things surrounded it. It appeared to be a patch of grass, and only by its horrible shaking could you see it was more then that. It had tiny nubs of feet, and its back was the color of fertile soil. A long patch of grass grew on its back and a few leaves fell from the grass base and helped cover the animal. It was obvious this thing's only survival method was camouflage.

Link had already charged at the creatures before Summer could, and had stabbed one by the time she fired an arrow at the other. Lucky for them there was only two.

"You okay there little buddy?" Link asked the creature as Summer hurried to join him.

The plant thing looked up at the towering Hylians above him. It quickly saw the other monsters where gone and squealed suddenly.

"KWEE—KOO! There are green ones! I didn't even know they came in green!" It cried and its plant camouflage turned into a bulb the color of its back.  
"Whoa, calm down. We won't hurt you." Summer jumped at its high pitched response. It spoke in a strange accent too.

"Don't hurt me please!" It scurried off as fast as it could on its little legs. Link was about to run after it but Summer grabbed his arm.  
"No use, you'll just frighten it more." She sighed and they watched it run up a tiny hill.

"Master Link, high amounts of Zelda's aura was on that creature." Fi appeared.  
"Really?" Summer grinned.  
"It also held amounts of Nick's energy on it, and based on our analysis, we have to conclude that it is a Kikwi." Lux informed them.

"They are a peaceful, forest dwelling animal. They are known for their power of camouflage, and intelligence. They also seem to have maintained the majority of their past common tongues between your people and theirs." Fi continued.

"So Zelda and Nick met that creature too huh?" Link asked.  
"It is currently unclear exactly why the creature would cause such an illicit response. It is advised you investigate this phenomenon." Lux finished and the team hurried in the direction of the creature.

After running after the Kikwi for quite some time, they finally caught up to it. For a little guy, he sure got far.

Using dowsing, Fi and Lux led them after the Kikwi and through the maze of the forest. They came to a high platform and spotted the Kikwi from before explaining what happened to three others. They spoke in front of on massive Kikwi that was ten times the size of the others and twice the size of the two Skyloftians. They poked their heads over the edge and listened in silently.

"Machi we already sent those two creatures away, they can't be back!" One told the one they had ran into, apparently it was named Machi.

"These two were different then the first two. One had brown fur and the other yellow fur." Machi pleaded.  
"Exactly, so did the first two!" Another snapped back.

"Kwee! They followed me!" It squealed when it saw the two Skyloftians standing not far from them. The others turned to the pair and gasped.

"It's becoming an infestation!" One screamed and ran around in circles.  
"What if they attack and try to eat us?" Another panicked. The largest one just laughed.  
"Kwee hee hee, the first two didn't eat us so why would these ones? These strange new creatures even speak our language. We should not meet them with fear but with open arms." The huge one spoke in a deep voice. "Do not fear you um things, come and speak to us."

Link and Summer cautiously approached the group of Kikwis.

"Kweeeee-heee… I am Bucha, the Kikwi elder. I saw the way you saw through Machi and our famous camouflage. Kweee, you two are clearly highly intelligent to be able to do that!" He laughed and spoke in Skyloftian too but, the strange accent was still there.  
"Excuse us, we don't mean to be rude but we are looking for some people." Summer replied looking up at the enormous version of the Kikwi.  
"Did you see any people coming through here that looked similar to us?" Link asked.

"Ah, you mean the girl creature with the yellow fur, and the boy creature with the brown fur. They appear similar to you. They both where with us briefly… Oh but alas… it is not the time for such talk. Night is to fall upon these woods soon, and our homes are the last strong hold against the monsters. But it will not stay safe for long. Kwee keee Machi mentioned you killed the monsters after him, correct?" The elder asked.  
"Yes we did." Link answered.  
"Kwee-hee-hee, then in exchange for your protection; we offer up some of our space for you to spend the night. In the morning I will tell you all that we know of your friends." He told them.

"But it's very important we learn everything we can now." LInk protested but the elder was firm.

Link and Summer where too sore to keep traveling for long anyway; and who knew if they could get another nice opportunity like this. They had a lot to do anyway, and a nice night's sleep could do them good. So they reluctantly agreed.

* * *

Summer had finished up building the fire pit by the time Link got back with some wood.

"Din, Goddess of fire and sculpture of the world, please gift us with the heat of a fire." Summer prayed to the goddess and saw a little glow of fire begin at the bottom of the wood in the pit.

The light had ceased at seeping through the clouds any more, and the usual starry sky was reserved only for those above the clouds. Does that mean all the creatures on the surface have never beheld a star before? It was interesting to think about, but the hazy color of this night sky still retained its beauty.

Link was busy building up the fire, and Summer was speaking to Lux.

"Things known as glittering spores also exist in the area. The glittering spores fall off of certain mushrooms, and affect various items as well." Lux was telling her.  
"Interesting…" Summer sighed, she was trying to get as much information as possible.

"Can you give me an analysis or assessment of what is going on right now?" Summer asked starting to grow frustrated from trying to get some important information.  
"This place is known as Faron Woods, and your current selection of items are survival based. Your suitability to the location is 95%. There are no major threats we can detect at the time in the forest. We recommend using this time to sharpen your battle techniques, adapt to the area, and gain experience of the surface world. Practicing your aim on small targets should be helpful as well." Lux stated.  
"I meant on this whole entire mess!" Summer snapped.  
"Your requests on information is unclear." Lux told her as emotionless as ever.  
"UGH!" Summer groaned and fell on her back in defeat.  
"Hey, we'll figure it all out soon okay?" Link told her and she shrugged.

"We don't have anything to eat do we?" She asked suddenly.  
"No…" He sighed.  
"Hey Lux, are the yellow fruits safe to eat?" Summer asked.  
"Yes Mistress Summer, but they are very high up in the trees." Lux replied.  
Summer pulled out her arrows and aimed at the branch connecting the fruit to the tree.

She fired an arrow, and the fruit smashed into the ground. She got up and retrieved what large chunks of it she could.

"I can't say I've ever tasted this kind of fruit before… It seems disgusting." Link gulped, with all the tiny insects they have seen so far, it wouldn't be a shock if there was a colony in the fruit.

"Well then we will boil it." Summer decided.  
"We don't have a pot to boil it in." He pointed out, he was pretty sure she had gone nearly crazy.

"Why don't we boil some water in our bottle, and then pour it over the fruit?" She suggested.  
"That won't work." He groaned.

"Ugh, Lux, could you tell us if this particular piece of fruit is completely safe to eat?" Summer asked.  
"This particular piece is free of harmful organisms, but it is advised you wash it." Lux answered.

"I think I saw a stream close by, I'll wash the fruit and fetch us some water to drink with our bottle." Summer decided, it was surprising how well focused she became when she was hungry.

"You sure you are gonna be okay on your own?" He asked.  
"It's not far, and you heard Lux. We are highly suited to the area. But I'm gonna take my sweet time and get cleaned up a bit." She replied.

"Fine," He grumbled. She grabbed the fruit, the empty bottle, hair brush, her bow and arrows, and the washcloth she brought.

Summer saw the elder passed out on his big stomach, and the four or so Kikwis in the branches. She neared the stream and checked with Lux to make sure it was safe water before she scooped it up. She undid the silver hair tie, and her brown belt. She carefully slipped off the green tunic, and kept on the white shorts and white exercise wraps over her chest. She dipped in the cloth, and washed what grim she could off her body. She didn't know how long easy access to water would last.

She washed her hair quickly, just making sure to get all the twigs out of it. She dried off and redressed before hurrying back to Link.

When she got back she gave him half of the cleaned fruit and the water. Summer ignored her fruit while she brushed out her hair.  
"Hey Fi is this still safe to eat?" Link asked hesitantly looking down at his half of the fruit.  
"Yes Master." She replied.  
"Come on Link, we don't know if we are going to be able to find more food for a while." Summer told him, but even she hadn't taken a bite yet. Link took the first nibble, and soon he became acquainted with the taste and texture. His hunger over took him and he began eating like it was a normal pumpkin.

When they finished Link took his turn to go clean up at the stream, and fetch more water for the future. Summer just sat there, her hair only damp now and still free of the ponytail. She stared into the fire in a sort of daze.

She thought of her friends. What could be going through Nick and Zelda's mind right now? What was Link thinking about as he sat by the stream?

The forest had grown cold, and it felt like a frost was descending upon her and the land. She had been cold, but never like this. Before it was just more of an uncomfortable thing. Now it was making her shiver and shake. She scooted as close to the fire as she could without getting caught by a flame.

She had never been so thankful for the warmth and protection of a fire. It was a fickle thing. It doesn't really do anything but burn up fuel and give off warmth. It's the world that decides how it's used. Some will put it on a house and watch as it spreads over a village, and then it can be used to keep a whole village of people alive in a winter. The fire doesn't change, it's all on how you manipulate it.

Summer was watching its little flares dance and flick off into the air when Link returned.  
"Hey, do you think Nick is still okay?" She asked suddenly.  
"He is fine… but why did you say Nick and not Zelda and Nick?" He sat on the other side of the fire and looked over at her.  
"What do you mean? I asked if you thought Nick and Zelda where okay." She replied.  
"No, you asked if Nick was okay." Link grinned and she blushed. Hopefully he would think her red color was coming from the heat of the fire.

"Mistress, your increased heart rate and blood flow indicate that you hold a set of different emotions towards Nick then you do towards Zelda." Lux proclaimed, and Link tried to contain his laughter.  
"Shut it you two, Nick is my best friend is all. I care about finding Zelda as much as I do finding Nick." She growled.

* * *

Summer laid on her back, with her hair back in its pony tail. She watched the stars and let her thoughts wander. She found herself thinking of an old memory of Nick.

"Hey Nick, how did your mother learn about all these plants? I've never even heard of them." Summer was fifteen again, and she was sitting up in her favorite tree. Nick was on the other side. She flipped through the leather book that Nick's mother gave him. His mother was a doctor, but she had died when the boys where thirteen. Their mom had been a lot like a mother figure to her and Zelda, since both of the girls never knew their moms. Link had even inherited her amber-colored hair, while Nick must have gotten his from his dad.  
"She said that our father told her about them, he even taught her all of her medical tricks." Nick told her and swung his legs back and forth.

"I wonder where your dad learned about them than." Summer replied pulling an apple from the branch above her.

"My mother never said, but she told us that he was a brave man. He loved fighting. Link always loved hearing about all the cool fights he was in and all his tricks. I never really did care much for battling." He shrugged.  
"I know, and that's why I still don't understand why you are trying to become a knight. You've always wanted to be a doctor when we were kids." She sighed.  
"Well I was a kid, I changed my mind." He shrugged halfheartedly.  
"Hmm, too bad you guys never met your dad." She sighed. The boys' father disappeared suddenly a few months after their birth; just like her mom. She handed him back his book and focused on her apple.

"Does your dad ever tell you about your mom?" He asked  
"Yeah, he has mentioned her a few times. Apparently she had red lips and cheeks like me, and she was the one who gave me these stupid ginger highlights." She sighed.

"But what about her other than how she looked?" He asked.

"Well, according to my dad she was a strong woman. She was an excellent dancer too. All she left me where my hoop earrings." Summer shrugged and finished off the apple. She threw it over her shoulder and accidentally hit Nick in the head.  
"Hey! Watch it princess!" He snapped, but he was grinning.

"Princess?! You know I hate that nickname!" She growled and he chuckled.  
"Oh forgive me Your Majesty." He slipped off the branch and walked in front of her. He gave her an elegant bow.  
"You are so dead!" She jumped off the branch and he took off running.  
"Bet you wouldn't be so scary on your bird." He taunted.  
"Fine, if you want to get your butt beaten in a bird race, so be it." She laughed.

"Summer, you should wake up." Nick suddenly told her.  
"Huh?"  
"WAKE UP!"

Summer felt herself blinded by a sudden onslaught of bright light, and Link's head began to take shape above her.  
"Ugh, what is it?" She demanded grabbing her bow and quickly sat up.  
"Nothing is wrong, but we should get going. You normally are such a light sleeper, you must have been exhausted." Link told her.

"Hmm, I wonder why." She sighed and wiped away the sleep in her eyes.

"The elder says he will tell us what he knows about Zelda and Nick now." Link told her and she yawned.

After the finished packing up and getting ready, they hurried to where the Kikwi elder could be found.

"Kwee hee hee, the young girl and boy… I think you mentioned their names. Nick and Zelda right? Yes… well they said they had to travel to the temple deep in the woods. Kwee… oho! I tried to warn them about the dangers there, but the foolish things ran off all the same." The elder told them.

"Do you know which way they went?" He asked.  
"They went to the ruins, kwee… beyond those is the temple. I have forbidden the Kikwis to go there. The area is full of nests of monsters. Kwee… you need to be very careful if you do follow." He advised.

* * *

"Why do they call these things ruins? They seem to be in pretty good shape to me. Just a little monster problem and some overgrown plants." Summer commented looking over the ruins.

The ruins appeared to be made of the same stone as the statue of the goddess back home and the Sealed Temple. Three staircases connected the ruins to the ground, one in the front and the other two on the side. This building wasn't as intricate as some of the other places they had seen so far. Six columns, one on each side of each stair case, stood proudly. The building had a huge leaf like carving sitting on the top like a crown, and there was a small raised viewing platform of the forest. Behind the platform was a path and stairs, the pathway had a familiar seal carved on it. The path ended with a beautiful arch, and it was likely beyond the arch was the temple.

"There is no way this was built by the Kikwis, the proportions don't match up with them." Summer observed holding her readied bow and ascending the steps.  
"I bet our ancestors built this, before they went to Skyloft." Link replied. Soon they passed under the archway and Summer stopped for a moment. She thought she heard something, but she just shook her head and hurried after Link.

* * *

**Author's note: In the next chapter the characters will be heading into the forest temple. I have always imagined that Link's first time on the surface made him feel very small, lonely, and very hyperaware. It must have been very lonely at first, and the forest is huge compared to what he is used to in Skyloft. Hopefully I captured those same types of things in this chapter. Also, I cut out meeting the goron, and redoing the seal. The goron seemed to serve as a helper on gameplay things and that wouldn't be necissary in a story book format. As always, reviews of any sorts are great motivaters and mean a lot! Thank you for reading the story and my little notes!**

**Next chapter deadline is 6-16-13. The next chapter should be up between the publishing of this chapter and the deadline date at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time). Thank you for your support and patience. (Hopefully I can meet this deadline) **


	7. Chapter 6: Skyview Temple

**Wow, I got a chapter up early, but this chapter is very small and will probably going to be the shortest chapter in the story. Also all the Zelda hype going on at e3 helps inspire my writing. And I'm going to The Symphony of the goddess tomorrow! I'll probably be writing a lot more too, so the next chapter is likely to be up early as well. So enjoy!**

**Review responses:**

_**To Total-Nerd-Girl: **_**I love how the kikwi elder has such a little plant on his back, and the kikwi in general had a really good concept. I kind of wish they had different plants on the backs of different Kikwi like they had in the concept art in _Hyrule Historia_. Also writing Fi and Lux very interesting, with their dialogue and interactions being so unique. Thank you for your comments and the review, they are appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Legend of Zelda or any of its cannon plots, and characters. The Legend of Zelda is property of Nintendo and all credits go to all proper parties. This is a fan story, and the creator is gaining no profit in any way. The writer does own the characters of Summer, Nick, King Fotia, and Lux. Thank you. **

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Skyview Temple**

After some rugged traveling, and slaying of monsters, the pair came to the next temple. This one was the same as the ruins they saw an hour ago in the front, but built off the top and back was a far larger and complex structure. The door was laden with gold and emeralds and sparkled like it was brand new.

"Master Link, I detect Zelda's presence within the temple." Fi informed.

"Mistress Summer, Nick is likely with her as well." Lux added.

"However, large quantities of monsters exist inside." Fi continued.

"Do you still wish to proceed?" Lux asked.  
"Of course!" Link and Summer snapped and they darted up the stone steps.

"It would be unwise to display overconfidence here. It is highly dangerous and no one will come to your aid in the event of extreme conditions or failure." Fi explained.  
"Doesn't that apply to the entire surface?" Summer groaned, something about their robotic tone made her very irritated quicker than usual.

"Once inside you cannot dowse for your friends either, the demon aura of the monsters covers up their own auras." Lux informed.

"More importantly how do we open this door?" Link asked.

"There is a stone tablet right here, it's written in the holy language." Summer squinted at the stone tablet and recited it, "_To the heroes from the sky, aim your shot up"_

They instinctively looked up, and saw a pink gem. Summer shrugged and fired an arrow at it. The gem cracked and the doors suddenly opened for them.

"I would have thought it would have been trickier than that..." Link sighed.  
Summer shrugged, "Looks like our ancestors where better architects than riddle makers."

A musty ancient smell began to emit from within the temple from gods know what. The walls were lined with giant overgrown mushrooms, and everything had a healthy coating of white mold. Huge vines curled over and drooped from the ceiling. Stairs led down to the depths and they couldn't see what lie beyond them. It was as dark as a night sky without the moon.

Link covered his nose from the smell, "Oh gods what is that?"  
"I can't even see the bottom. How long does it go down for?" Summer coughed.

"Who knows? We can't waste time standing here. Let's hurry." Link replied, and they began their descent into the temple.

All you could here was an eerie silence, and the tap of their boots on the floor. The whole temple was shockingly stuffy and suffocating. Little spores could be seen floating around the room and falling from the mushrooms. There where strange beautiful rocks that looked like precious gems all around, Fi and Lux called them 'crystals'. With the help of Fi and Lux's glowing abilities and their own keen eyesight they treaded on.

Numerous cobwebs blocked their paths, and Link used his sword to cut them off. Not matter how much he would cut, the silky white threads still clung to the travelers. More haunting was the fact that the massive skulltula's that crafted those webs where likely to still be here.

After wandering through the temple, and doing battle with a giant skeleton and many other monsters, they came upon a heavy golden door. Between the two of them they managed to push it open and stumble inside. The room was just one big circle.

As soon as they walked in the doors slam shut behind them as if by magic. When they turned their heads a painfully bright flash greeted them. They instinctively shut their eyes and when they reopened, a strange person stood with his back to them.

He held a long ebony scimitar with a pink diamond encrusted on its handle. Long gloves went over his hands and covered a majority of his forearm. The gloves had diamond holes, and a diamond pattern on the golden arm band on his right arm. A long maroon cloak that flowed over the back of his body, and its giant collar covered the back of his head.

His weapon radiated an evil mist and left a trail of the strange fog as it moved. He pulled back his arm, and just as the blade was ready to slice it disintegrated into the air in little kite shaped particles.

"Look who has stumbled in…" He let out a bit of a chuckle.

The man turned around and allowed the teens to look at him. He had sickly gray skin, and white hair. His hair was split on the left, and long bangs covered half his face. The left side of his hair was short and neatly combed. A blue diamond sat in his right ear, and his lips where ivory colored.

"I thought that crazy windstorm I crafted would have hurled you into a rock. But here you stand. Not covered in blood." He sighed and tossed his head towards the door.

"Not that your presence complicates anything. It's just the other two that matter now, and I can feel them here… just beyond this room. Yes, we've just plucked the sacred ones from their perch in the clouds, and now they are in our grasp." He let out another evil laugh.

"Oh, but I'm being so positively uncivilized. Allow me to introduce myself properly." He flipped his hair and began to speak again.  
"I am the Demon Lord who hails over this land that your kind looks down upon. This place you have named the surface. However, since you are also royalty, you need not call me by my proper royal name. You may refer to me as Ghirahim. If you wish to be formal, I prefer to be called upon by my bestowed full title as Lord Ghirahim. But I won't care much either way." He explained.

"Demon…" Link hissed and glared at the man. He readied his sword and shield. Summer remained cautious but hadn't decided what to make of the man ; so she didn't draw her bow yet.

"Did you really just draw your sword? Foolish boy." Ghirahim turned around to look at them.  
"In reality they should already be in our hands. They were practically ours when that loathsome servant of the goddess snatched them right from our clutches. Do you know how that made me feel?" His anger started to grow and the room switched from its regular lighting to a dim darkness.

"I was furious! Outraged! Shaking with sickening anger!" He suddenly disappeared much like his own sword had.

"These unexpected intervening events have left me with a ravenous appetite for blood shed." His voice came from everywhere in the room, but was no were to be found. Summer readied an arrow on her bow, and they both looked around madly for the demon lord.

There was that haunting chuckle again and he snuck up behind Link. His lips dangerously close to Link's long ear.

"Still… it seems so unfair in these circumstances to unleash my wrath upon you helpless sky civilians, even if you are trespassing into my territory. So I promise up front to not slay you…" He disappeared again and came up behind Summer.

"I'll just torture you till you wish you were dead!" His long bloody scarlet tongue darted from his mouth like a snake's and Summer yelped. She pulled away and spun around to face him.

He began to laugh again and raised his arm. His cloak disintegrated away and revealed his ivory colored clothes. The tight white top went from under his right arm and went around and over his left shoulder. A golden belt with a giant red ruby was wrapped tightly just above his waist. A giant kite shaped hole on the shirt showed his chest, and half of another kite shaped cut showed his abdomen. His pants were stretched over his skin and similar diamond-shaped cuts ran down the pants. He looked up at the teens and gave them an evil grin.

Link swung his sword and Ghirahim caught it midway with his fingers. He yanked it from Link's grasp and Link stumbled back.

"Quite the sword you got here. But as long as you use such petty attacks like the amateur you are, you will never land a blow on me." He laughed and strode towards Link.

Summer fired an arrow at his head, but he dodged it easily before launching the sword at Summer. She snatched it and threw it to Link. This was too much a close combat battle for Summer to do much of anything.

Link pointed his blade up and Ghirahim coördinated his hand to grab the sword. Link switched quickly and did a horizontal slash. Summer dashed up to Link and looked like she had a sudden idea. She broke away from Link as Ghirahim approached the pair. She ran behind the gray man and she aimed an arrow. She winked at Link, and just as she fired he began to swing at Ghirahim.

The demon lord snatched the arrow and broke it like a twig, but while he did that Link landed a jab into him and then launched a fury of attacks. The demon teleported to the other side of the room and licked his lips. He snapped his fingers and snatched his sword that had materialized for him. He then disappeared, but they knew he had teleported somewhere. Summer and Link began to move around everywhere frantically, the suspense was running up their nerves and they began to panic. He materialized behind Link who was already dashing away and slashed at Link's boots. The blade knocked Link off of his feet and he smacked into the ground. While Link was down Ghirahim snapped his fingers and launched blood-red and ebony arrow heads at Summer. She quickly rolled out of the way and one of the shards slashed deeply into her bicep.

Link got up and Ghirahim did a running charge at the dizzy boy. Link quickly side-stepped and timed his slash just right. He was successful and launched more attacks on the demon. The demon lord turned and swung his blade at Link, missing narrowly.

Summer's high nerves and adrenaline was working magic, and she could hardly feel her injury. She quickly fired an arrow at Ghirahim and Link swung his sword. Ghirahim caught the arrow and simultaneously blocked Link's sword with his own blade. Even when they ganged up on the man he easily evaded their attacks.

The demon lord reappeared behind Link and raised his sword expertly for a slice, but Link spun around too quickly and swung his blade haphazardly. It landed a blow and Ghirahim began to hang his head from slight weariness. Link's adrenaline was rapidly deteriorating and he was starting to grow desperate. Summer was starting to feel the full effects of her arm injury and could barely focus on covering Link from Ghirahim's attacks until the swordsman could manage a blow.

Ghirahim teleported behind Summer, and in front of Link. Summer spun and launched another arrow as Link brought down his sword. The demon lord was caught off guard and both the blows hit. He stumbled back and rubbed his forehead. He stood and pointed his sword directly at the exhausted pair of teens.  
"Well… you put up much more of a fight than I would have thought possible for being such vulnerable creatures. But don't throw a celebration of victory quite yet. Those weapons you hold are the only reason you lived. I agonize that I spent far too long toying with you. The boy and girl's presence has faded from this temple, which mean there is no longer a reason for me to remain. Good bye sky children. Frolic away this time. Just remember that jumping in my path again would be suicide." He chuckled and teleported away for good.

Link fell to the ground gasping, and Summer realized the deep bloody gash in her bicep. She clutched her arm and applied pressure like Nick had taught her. After a few moment's Link rose and the blood flowing out of Summer's cut subsided. The adrenaline edge had begun to wear off and she was starting to feel the intense throbbing pain the adrenaline had blocked.

Together they dragged themselves beyond the door. They clutched to the railing of the stair case as they ascended it to emerge out of the temple. They squinted as their eyes readjusted to the regular lighting of the outside world. On either side of the rock walls small waterfalls dumped water into the spring, and they walked on an untouched stone path. Two huge round columns stood on each side of the path way, making four in total. On them where golden bowls of beautiful flowers. They walked up the small stair case that led to a round platform. The platform had four miniature columns on it and all around was a shallow pond of beautiful water. Big round stones sat in the pond, and made a path from the platform to a shrine.

It appeared to be around three in the afternoon, and the sun was high in the sky. A couple of full-grown trees grew in the pond, and they bore fresh ripe fruit. Glittering butterflies fluttered about and Koi fish swam around peacefully.

The shrine held a mini statue of the goddess, like the one in Skyloft, and the shrine was colored white and gold. The colors had faded from their former glory, and the only things that still sparkled where glittering emeralds embedded in the stone.

Fi and Lux appeared on the right and left sides of the shrine and floated mere inches off the water.

"Master, we have messages written in the ancient language of the gods." Fi started.

"Allow us to recite it for you." Lux added.

Fi and Lux began dancing like ice skaters on the water, and ripples repealed off the tips of their feet.

"From the depths of the forest I play my music for your ears. the ones chosen for the sky goddess's mission. The spirit maiden and my shrouded knight, who descended from the clouds must travel to three holy places to purify their bodies. This is the first of those three places. This is the forest spring. The next destination is the volcanic lake." They recited in unison and met in front of the shrine again. They began to twirl around each other, and gorgeous light particles fell from their bodies into the air.

"This second sacred place is tucked away in the heart of a blazing mountain, which lies deep within the scorched and charred land of Eldin. The holy pair, armed with their tasks, are travelling to that place." The sisters stopped their reciting and the Skyloftian's eyes had traveled to the statue.

A tablet had appeared and floated down to the teens. It paused in front of them and the sisters floated to their masters.

"What you hold is the ruby tablet." Fi informed.  
"We shall hold onto it for now." Lux offered and the tablet disappeared.

"At this time, it is unclear what methods Nick and Zelda are using to travel across the surface." Fi continued.  
"We suggest you take the tablet to the altar in Skyloft." Lux explained.  
"Another hole in the barrier should appear and take you to the next area on the surface." Fi added.

"We shall teleport you back above the clouds. Directly above the hole in the cloud barrier." Lux finished and the teens panted in response. The group teleported away.

* * *

**Author's Note: In the next chapter the characters will be heading into the volcano and earth sanctuary. Any reviews and comments of any kind are welcome and appreciated. If you want a chapter up earlier, a review usually is the best motivator for me. Thank you for reading!**

**Next chapter deadline is 6-30-13. The next chapter should be up between the publishing of this chapter and the deadline date at 11:59 PM (Pacific time). Thank you for your support and patience. **


	8. Chapter 7: The Charred Land of Eldin

**Author's Note: Ok wow I think I should just do away with the deadline thing in general. So sorry for the wait everyone, but I was sure to give you an extra long chapter this time. So I hope you all enjoy it!  
**

**Review Responses:**

**_To Total-Nerd-Girl_: I tried to switch up more of the dialogue as you suggested and so far I think it's improving on some degree. Also I re-edited the last fight scene like you suggested and was sure to put in the adrenaline more like you pointed out. Thank you for your review and helping me to improve, it's really appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Legend of Zelda or any of its cannon plots, and characters. The Legend of Zelda is property of Nintendo and all credits go to all proper parties. This is a fan story, and the creator is gaining no profit in any way. The writer does own the characters of Summer, Nick, King Fotia, and Lux. Thank you.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The Charred Land of Eldin**

Summer and Link went from standing on solid ground in a heavenly spring to free-falling in the middle of Skyloft's sky. They yelped and instinctively called their birds. They flew low and out-of-the-way of the usual routes of the bird riders. They knew King Fotia knows what is going on by now, and is covering up the new knight and new queen's disappearance by sending out search parties that would not find anything. The heroes didn't want to cause any more trouble than necessary.

They were relying heavily on their birds and the basic bird riding routines their instructors drilled into their heads to land by the Statue of the Goddess. They collapsed behind the statue and felt the full toll of their previous battle.

Summer thought she had merely blinked, but when she reopened her eyes the sky had turned to twilight.

"I see you're finally up." Link sighed from behind her. She impulsively went to sit up, but fell back to the ground with her body shaking.  
"I wouldn't do that again if I was you. I made the same mistake when I woke up an hour ago. I guess we just sorta collapsed here." Link sighed.

Summer's body was aching all over, and she had an intense pulsating pain in her left bicep. Her eyes where spinning and her brain was beating against her skull.  
"I figured no one ever really goes behind the statue, I mean it's just a tiny strip of land back here. Might as well rest." Link sighed.

"How do you feel?" Summer asked, her voice was crackling. Her whole mouth was like cotton and had a strange taste in it.  
"I don't think I got any major injuries, just a bad bump on the head. My main thing was exhaustion. I just need to refuel a little and I bet I'll be ok." Link assessed, "What about you?"

"I think I'm about the same… But my arm." Summer replied.

"I got some apples from the trees, and still some water in the bottle." Link offered kindly. He helped her to sit up and she leaned against a tree trunk for support.

After Summer had finished off the last of the water and an apple she started to feel better. She clutched her arm to keep pressure on it best she could. She noticed Link was looking through Nick's medical book.

"What are you doing?" She snapped, her voice was at least turning back to normal.

"I'm looking to see if there is anything we can do for your bicep. I don't think it needs stitches, it's probably too late for that anyway." Link told her, it was scaring her how much he was starting to sound like Nick.

"Ugh it probably did need stitches… Does it say what we can do about it now?" She asked.  
"Just wrap it up, rest, and it says there is a couple of herbs that when mixed together make the arm usable." Link summarized, "It sounds likes we need to make a trip to Nick's room. He has the bandages and herbs." Link told her, but she began to tune him out.

Summer listened to the Skyloftian people as they sent prayers to the goddess with the use of the Statue. She just listened to the sounds they were making, but not their words. They seemed to either be crying when they arrived or burst into tears during their prayers.

"Hey Link, why do you think everybody is sending so many prayers all of a sudden?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh well as far all they know is me, my brother, Zelda and their very own queen are all missing. Plus I bet your dad is staying away from the public and shrouding it all in mystery. They are probably worried and scared." Link explained.

"I suppose. Let's just hope they stay at the altar." Summer sighed, but they seemed to be praying about something more than that. It sounded like they were mourning.

* * *

Summer was standing with her father, she was thirteen again. She shivered as the sharp winds cut at her bare legs under her dress. She waved at the knights as they began to mount their birds. The official and 'professional' ones ignored her and spoke to her father about doing the country proud or something like that. Ever since she was little she knew they were trying to kiss up to the king with their patriotism and loyalty. She thought they were stuck up.

A few of the other knights would wave to her and smile; Summer's favorite knight would give her a high-five and ask when the little princess was going to be the one leading the charge of the knights. Summer's favorite knight was the exact kind the princess wanted to be when she grew up. She was one of the few knights who knew that Summer didn't want to be some silly princess, as Summer put it anyway. The knight always would always catch Summer spying on the other knights as they trained and would secretly teach Summer cool fighting tricks.

It was nearly completely dark, and the knights were called to go into thunderhead because it was spawning season for the monsters that lived inside the cloud. If they didn't knock out as many as they could by the time spring came they would have a serious problem. It was important, and very dangerous work.

Sumer looked over and saw Ariel walking up with her two boys. Being the only doctor Ariel often went with the knights in case a serious injury occurred. Link looked over at the princess for a moment, but as usual he became enthralled by watching the knights with all their cool gear and weapons. Summer couldn't blame the boy much, if she never got to see the knights she would probably be doing the same thing.

Nick on the other hand was sticking closely to his mother's side. He gave Summer a quick look and smile.

As Ariel and King Fotia spoke Nick and Summer hung out and kidded around as usual. When the knights and Ariel had gone, Nick, Link, and Summer had all gone home to wait till they got back.

Usually not many actually watch the knight leave, the families will instead say goodbye in their own homes. But when it's time for the knights to return everybody goes and waits for them. Summer held a tight grip on her umbrella, it was pouring rain now. The worst weather conditions for this sort of thing. It was the only reason people were fretting about the knights safety more than usual.

Soon, the knights began to arrive and land on safe soil.

Nick and Link waited patiently. Zelda had come to see the knights return and was sticking close to her father. Summer was doing the same.

The head knight approached the King and whispered the state of affairs to Fotia. Summer had become a master eavesdropper by this point, and listened carefully.

"…Her bird got injured… Ariel is not coming back…" Summer suddenly grew stone cold and looked at her two friends, who were starting to frantically search the sky for more birds to arrive.

The King sent his daughter to go play with Zelda as Fotia quickly told Kaepora what had transpired.

Summer and Zelda didn't say anything, they already knew. Zelda and Summer silently cried together briefly, as Ariel was the closest thing to a mother they had. Both of the girls never knew their own mothers themselves.

They watched as the King told the boys about the horrible tragedy. Link suddenly screamed and ran to the edge of the takeoff platform. He started to wail his mother's name over and over again as if she could hear him now.

Zelda ran from Summer's side and up to Link. She put a hand on his shoulder and he shoved her away. He continued to scream for his mother. Zelda just turned and began to yell for Ariel too.

Summer watched Nick. He just stood there. He stared at the medical book in the King's hands. One of the knights had recovered it from Ariel's bird before she died. Nick clutched it against his chest and used his whole body to shield it from the relentless torrents of rain. He began to run blindly in a vague direction. He accidentally shoulder bumped into Summer and made her tumble back, but didn't even stop. Summer took off running after him.

Whenever they played tag, Nick could never manage to keep up with Summer. But that night he was running faster than she ever could on her best days.

"Summer!" She heard her father call after her, but he let her go after Nick anyway.

Nick was running in the direction of the Statue of the Goddess and by the time Summer finally caught up to him he was behind the statue, huddled up under an apple tree silently sobbing to himself and clinging to the book like it was his only power source.

"Go away. I don't want pity, especially from you Summer." His voice was as sharp and cold as the rain that was falling on them, and Summer never expected Nick to ever sound like that. She knew better than to listen to his words though.

"I won't pity you Nick, I would never pity you. But it would be a shame for your book to get wet right?" She held her umbrella over him and he looked up at her. She sat down next to him and untied her sail cloth.

"May I..?" She put her hand on the book and he handed it to her. She began to wipe off the cover of the book with the cloth.  
"You probably should dry off your shirt a little too." She told him and suddenly pressed the cloth to his face.

"It's going to be a challenge to keep your face dry though." She said softly.

A minute ago she didn't understand why Zelda would start shouting with Link like that, but she understood now. Zelda wasn't getting Link's hopes up, she was just tell Link that she would help him, no matter what he did. Summer was sort of doing the same thing by protecting Nick's book.

"I told you to go away." He hissed and took back the book.

"You know, it's okay to cry Nick." She told him.

"Whatever." He snapped.  
Summer set the umbrella down so it still covered Nick, and ran behind the tree. She snatched up a heart flower and ran back.  
"What are you doing Your Highness?" He asked, she knew she hated being called Your Highness. He expected her to lose her temper like always, but instead she plopped down into the mud next to him and began to speak.

"My father used to read to me from the book of Mudora. One passage describing Skyloft said that there were flowers, with everlasting bulbs in the shape of a heart. They supposedly are the only cure for a broken heart, because they simply give you their own heart. You're supposed to take the heart shaped bulb, and I think you eat it. Then you have to keep the rest of the flower with you or it'll die. I don't know if it helps or if that stuff is true, but I still think that passage was beautiful." Summer told him while stroking the leaves of the flower.  
"Beautiful? You never think anything is beautiful." He replied.

"Oh shut it I was trying to be comforting like Zelda always is." Summer groaned, she was never good at this sort of thing. Nick suddenly wrapped his arms around her in a hug and buried his head into her shirt.

Between his sobs Nick managed to tell her, "You're plenty comforting Summer."

* * *

Summer's eyes fluttered open and saw an apple dangling above her. Link was still asleep and for a couple of moments she sat under the tree without moving. She used a branch to pull herself up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. The sun was high and bright in the sky, so it had to have been late morning. Summer pulled down the apple and took a big bite, when she was done she threw the core at Link's head.  
Link jumped and grabbed his sword, "Ow! Ugh what's going on?"  
"Nothing stupid, but it's time to get up." Summer snapped.

"Hey, you know at least when I wake you up I'm nice about it." Link groaned.  
"Well no one is at the statue now and I have a feeling that could change soon, plus it's already late and so everybody is out and about. So I don't think we can sneak into Nick's room." Summer replied.

"No, you need medicine and we both need to stock up. We are going to sneak into his room, but first let's go to the statue. How is your arm?" Link asked, he had just got up and was already focused on hurrying after their friends.  
Summer sighed, "It's fine."

"We are going to his room." Link glared.  
"But we already took his medical book" Summer argued, "do we really need to break into his room to?"

"Yes, come on let's go to the statue first." Link decided and they dragged themselves inside of the hollow statue.

* * *

"Professor Horwell just walked inside." Link whispered to Summer. They had already gone to the altar inside the statue. They now stood at the bottom of the staircase that led from the main island of Skyloft to the statue.

"If we go right into that door then Horwell will see us." Summer observed.  
Link pondered for a moment, "So we have to slip down to the lower floor and hope Professor Owlan isn't there. Then slip inside the bottom door." They darted over to where the Professor just was and dropped to the lower floor.

Professor Owlan had just gone down the steps and into town. So the pair cautiously opened the bottom door and slipped inside. Cawlin stood right in front of the teens, but his back was too them. Fledge was in the kitchen helping the house-mother. Fledge looked up to see who came in and was shocked to see Summer and Link. He was about to say something, but they shook their heads and pointed to Cawlin. He nodded.

"Hey Cawlin! Could you help me a second?" Fledge asked.  
"Now why would I ever help you?" Cawlin snapped back. Cawlin strode up to Fledge and away from the missing teens. Link and Summer dashed down the hall unnoticed and slipped into Nick and Link's shared bedroom.

Summer plopped down on Nick's bed next to Nick's guitar while Link grabbed the right sized bandages.

"I can't believe we got so lucky." Summer sighed in relief.  
"Yeah I know, let me wrap up your arm." Link pushed aside the guitar and plopped on the bed with her. Summer got instantly uncomfortable. She was used to having Nick just casually sit down next to her, and having Nick bandage her up, but Link? No, no, no, it was just too wrong for her.

Summer flinched as Link pressed a strange leafy plant against her cut and he began to wrap the bandage around her bicep.

"You're just gonna leave the herb there?" She asked, it felt weird having a plant pressed against your arm under a bandage.

"Yep, the book said it fights infection, and helps nourish the cells or something weird like that." Link shrugged.

"So we just have to fill up our bottles with water and then we can head back towards the surface." Summer assessed.  
"That reminds me…" Link suddenly grabbed one of Nick's bottles off of his nightstand, "We should probably borrow one of these and fill it with medicine. Oh and also let's get a roll of bandages."  
"We already have two bottles, and Nick's room isn't a store of free stuff." Summer protested.

"We are only taking what we need. We both will probably need bandages and medicine. We can fill the other two bottles with enough water for each of us and we will be better prepared." He explained and quickly began to fill up the bottle with random plants he plucked from Nick's shelves.

"You aren't the one that has to carry this stuff, remember?" Summer pointed out.  
"I think you'll live. I'll carry it if it gets too heavy for you." Link grinned.

"That's not the point." Summer hissed.

"What's the big deal anyway? Is there a particular reason you're being so defensive about Nick's stuff?" Link asked.

"What? No, ugh fine we'll take it." Summer groaned. Link handed her the bandages and now filled up bottle of medicine.

Summer looked at the shelf that held the bottles of water meant for Nick's plants, and as she reached for them she paused. There sat a pretty little heart flower sitting in a decorative vase. She blushed looking at it and Link gave her a strange look. She shook her head and quickly swapped their own empty bottles for the ones filled with water.

The two Skyloftians snuck out of the academy unnoticed, and they hurried back to the statue. They each ate an apple quickly and snagged one for the road before taking off.

The two teens launched off their birds over the second hole and began to plummet back to the surface. Unlike the blanket of green they say last time, they instead found themselves greeted with a sea of red and brown.

The air grew thicker as they neared the land and it was filled with clouds of gray. Where ever the winds blew they carried ash and smoke over the melted earth.

"Mistress, the charred land of Din. Ahead is the raging Eldin volcano. It is an active volcano that personifies the raw power of the land." Lux appeared and her sister appeared.

"Approximately 65% of this region is covered in lava. It is inhibited by a few numbered creatures that thrive in these harsher conditions." Fi informed.

"Please exercise caution with flammable materials such as wood and fabric." Lux warned.  
"If something catches on fire or you do, it is advised you roll on the ground to extinguish the flames." Fi cautioned and the duo returned to their weapons.

The new area held far less plants than the forest, instead there were just a few shrubs or burnt up trees. The few strips of land were covered in flowing molten rock and lava, like some strange gooey hot mess. The earth around them was sculpted into bumpy ranges of tall hills and one ginormous mountain stood above them all. The lava flowed down from the very peak of that giant mountain and Summer could help but feel a pull towards there.

The temperature was much higher than it was in the cool and misty forest. But while Link was already starting to shift uncomfortably in the heat, Summer seemed right at home.

"Now this place is more my speed! I can already feel the power of the earth coursing through me." Summer laughed and hurried along on the path.  
"Ugh how can you like this place? The forest was way better. I mean this place looks dead and it's so hot." Link groaned.  
"What are you talking about? This temperature is perfect! It's like relaxing in a soothing hot bath without the water part. I can just feel my skin breathing in the sun." Summer breathed in the ashy air and felt the warm rays on her face.  
"Hey why are your earings glowing?" Link asked and she instinctively touched them.

She yanked her hand back and screeched, "OW! Oh my goddess they are sizzling hot!"

"Mistress Summer, you're earrings are called fire shield earrings. They absorb heat and keep their wearer at their preferred temperature. You still find it warm because your preferred temperature is hotter than most people's." Lux informed her.  
"Well you could have lent them to me." Link told her fanning himself.  
"Whatever, it can't be that bad. But this place is way better than that cold creepy forest." Summer smiled. She liked this place, it was open and warm and the hard rock ground was solid under her feet. Even more solid than the ground in the forest, and the lava streams were so captivating to watch. The lava was way better than the water streams of the forest.  
"That forest wasn't creepy at all, it was so closed and protective. It was full of life, and just bustling with activity. Besides I don't think we will last long out here. What will we do for food and water when we run out? It doesn't look like it'll be easy trying to stay here." Link pointed out.

Summer was about to say something, but a rustling in the ground stopped her.

Link looked at her confused by her pause, "What are you…"

"Don't you hear that under...?" She asked, and then two heads followed by two torsos pulled themselves out of the ground.

"Ah! What are those?" Link jumped.

"Oh wow! They look cool!" Summer grinned.

They looked like large moles, with ivory colored thin fur, and blue rimmed eyes. They had long black claws and big hands. Their arms were large and powerful looking. They wore some strange straps over their shoulders too. The one on the right had a tuff of maroon hair on his head and the other had green hair tied in a small ponytail.  
"Hey! Hey! HEY! We aren't gonna let some silly monsters like you…huh?" The maroon haired one stopped himself and looked over the two Skyloftians. The creatures spoke in accents, but nothing like the Kikwi accent at all.

"Wait! You're not monsters… Yo, Ledd, these ones are green, not red like the others." The green haired one spoke and his buddy crossed his arms.

"Y-yeah, I bet these ones are new. But still no reason to scare us!" The red-haired one who was apparently named Ledd looked closer at the Skyloftians.

"Yo, sorry 'bout that, pal. All these monsters are stressing me out." Ledd spoke again and tried to appear confident, "We thought more of them had showed up and we was gonna chase them off. I'm Ledd by the way and this is Cobal. We are out here because I wanna chase these monsters outta here."

"Yeah whatever, Mr. Too scared to dig deep 'cause it gets dark." Cobal sighed under his breath. Summer busted up laughing, and Link didn't get what was so amusing about the terrible joke.

"ANYWAY, if you two... things… are here sniffing for treasure you might wanna avoid them red guys." The maroon one cautioned.

"These guys are fun and cute, huh Link?" Summer asked her companion and he tried to ignore this out of character version of her.  
"We actually aren't looking for treasure, we are looking for some friends of ours." Link told them getting right down to business.

"Oh right, I'm Queen Summer of the royal house." Summer introduced herself formally.

"I'm upperclassman Link of no house." Link introduced. It had been awhile since he had to actually use the formal introduction of Skyloft.

"So you guys are looking for your friends and NOT treasure?" Cobal questioned, "So that was your buddies that ran by earlier. They rushed by without a single glance at us. They ran too quick for me to get a good look at them, but I knew they weren't like them red creeps."

"They also weren't wearing green like you either." Ledd pointed out.  
"Ok, thank you." Link told them and they hurried away.  
"Wow, they were adorable." Summer commented.  
"Are you kidding? The Kikwi where cute those guys where weird." Link shook his head.  
"The Kikwi freaked me out a little to be honest, the elder was frustrating." Summer countered.

After trekking through caverns and what not the evening descended upon them, and the heat was seriously starting to get to Link.

"Hey, isn't that a campsite?" Summer pointed a perfect flat area lined with five or so nice tents. The tents were stocked with all sorts of supplies and a fire pit was already set up. They even had cooking pots and pans.

"This is perfect, and when the monsters do return we can easily slay them."

"What? No we still got about two hours of good traveling time. At this rate Zelda and Nick will get way ahead of us." Summer protested.  
"But who knows when we will get another great opportunity like this?" Link argued.

After a little more bickering Summer finally agreed to just camp out there for the night.

"We need to get up early tomorrow to make up this time." Summer sighed and they got straight to work getting ready.

Summer and Link sat quietly in front of the fire pit like they had done in the forest, only this time with no fire. They each ate the stolen meat from the monster's camp (after repeatedly checking with Fi and Lux to make sure it was ok to eat). They gulped as much water as they wanted since the camp was stocked with jars and jars of it. After that they just let themselves relax and watch the empty sky as it got darker and darker.

Summer sat up and looked at the empty fire pit. She sort of wished they did have another campfire like they did in the forest, but Link was just starting to cool down again. Summer really liked watching fire, it kept her mind entertained enough so her thoughts didn't wander to every corner of the world. The fire just felt like a sort of companion, and it allowed her to think about herself or even nothing at all for once.

"We should try to drink as much water as we can while we are here… you have to stay really hydrated when you're in someplace really hot." Summer said suddenly and refilled Link's bottle from one of the water jugs.

"Where did you hear that?" Link asked.

"Nick told me that once. Your body sweats more and you lose more water when it's hot." Summer told him and then she sighed suddenly, " You know Nick is so interested in medical stuff and knows so much about it. I know he wants to be a doctor so why is he training to be a knight? He won't tell me what made him change his mind, do you know why?"

Link grinned a little, "Oh I know why."

Summer spun around quickly, "What? Why? He refuses to tell me."

"I won't tell you, he doesn't want you to know. But why are you so worried about him?" Link grinned.

"Because he is my best friend and… a knight is the exact opposite of a doctor. We both know Nick is made for being a healer, not a fighter like the knights are." Summer plopped down across from Link and sulked in front of the fire pit.

"I think the real reason you're so worried about him is because you care about him." Link said softly. For once he wasn't accusing or teasing her. He was actually hinting that she really did have feelings for him.

"Of course I care about him." Summer rolled her eyes.

Link shook his head, "No, I mean you care about him in a different way as just a friend."

"Why would you say something like that?" Summer snapped.

"Because your face gets different when you talk about him, different than it is when you talk about Zelda or me." Link pointed out.  
"Well so does your face when you talk about Zelda. You go into this whole different mode just thinking about her." Summer accused.

"I do not!" Link defended.

"Sure, whatever you say. Boys in love are always oblivious." Summer laughed.

They both busted up laughing for no real reason. It was nice to be able to just mess around like normal teenagers, even if it was for just a fleeting moment.

The morning came swiftly and with it came its merciless heat and horribly bright sunlight. They awoke early since they had fallen asleep early, and they set out just as the sun really began to reheat the earth again.

They used Fi and Lux to follow Nick and Zelda's trail. They spoke to a few Mogmas, but they only spoke of a figure in black. Nothing of their friends though. This new figure dressed in black seemed to be another interesting development, who else was down here?

After about an hour they came to a small gap where it appeared there should be a bridge that led to the other side. As they stepped closer to investigate it they felt something start to move. On the other side the bridge had started sliding out from under the rock, and connecting the two sides.

"You two, the goddess's chosen hero, and the knight's chosen queen..." They looked up to see the figure in black. She stood tall upon the archway on the other side of the bridge, and her dark clothes were trimmed with gold.  
"Zelda and Nick are ahead… hurry." That was all she said before she pounced off her perch and dashed off.

"Who was that?" Summer asked.

"We don't have time to figure it out." Link told her and they quickly ran off, as impulsive as ever.

They ascended the mountain as fast as they could and at its peak sat a glorious temple. The temple was crafted of gold and jade, and anything else was a bright crimson. Rubies bejeweled the giant golden doors.

"Come on help me push open these doors." Summer commanded and together they managed to push open the heavy thick doors.

They were blasted with blistering hot air, and it settled over them (but Summer hardly felt it). Link took a step back from the unexpected wave of heat and Summer looked down at the bright red glow that was emitting from the temple depths. It was like the boiling fire of hell was waiting below them.

Summer started to march down and Link quickly followed.

Summer had a wave of motivation come over her, and she refused to stop. Link stuck close to Summer, her earrings cooled the air around her and that was the only relief that made the heat bearable.

"Master Link, this would be the Earth temple, it was built long ago by the demons to worship and house a fierce and violent dragon." Fi told them.  
"Would explain all the statues and sculptures," Link shrugged. "but this place seems too advanced and decorative to have been really built by a bunch of demons."

Summer looked up critically "I think I remember reading about that in the Book of Mudora. I think some hero of the Gorons killed that dragon and the people turned the temple into a tomb."

"YO! It's the two green buddies from before." They looked over and saw Cobal, one of the first two mogmas they met. "If I was you guys I'd hightail it outta here. I saw a blonde girl and brunette boy get dragged in here by a bunch of monsters, and Ledd went missing!"

"Wait you saw them get dragged away?" Summer yelped.  
"Yeah I did. Do you guys think maybe you could find Ledd for me? I can't leave without 'im" Cobal asked and they nodded.

They did eventually find Ledd while going through the temple. They told him about Cobal being worried and Ledd seemed to feel pretty bad for making Cobal worry. He even sympathized with Link and Summer about their lost friends. It was interesting to not see Ledd have his tough exterior going.

Eventually the pair came to giant room with a dragon head to the right. The head was up high and from its mouth it spewed a waterfall of magma. The falling magma blocked a path. You could see sculptures of the dragon's long skinny body curving up and down in the magma pools.

To their left where two small staircases that connected to a long strange path. One of the small stair cases was destroyed, but the other was intact and usable. The path was slightly curved like a ramp, and it weaved its way up in a steep incline. It seemed the path wasn't made for walking, at least it wasn't made for walking Skyloftians.

They didn't have anything else they could explore so they decided to see what was at the top of the curved path.

At the top of the lengthy path they saw a still very well intact sculpture of yet another dragon head. Its body was long and coiled in a spiral shape with its head coming from the middle. It held out its gigantic arms and claws. Below the sculpture, and at the very end of the path, was a regal chest.

Link was the one to open the chest while Summer studied the sculpture, surprisingly most of its gorgeous color scheme paint was in good condition. Link pulled out another mini statue of a dragon made of pure gold. He and Summer studied it, and was informed it was a key by Lux and Fi. They decided there was nothing more for them up here and just as they began to descend the ramp, they heard a rumble behind them. They turned around and saw the jaw of the dragon sculpture unhinged. Out fell a gigantic boulder that hit perfectly on the ramp and began to roll.

"Run!" Link yelled and grabbed Summer's hand. They bolted down the ramp with the gigantic relentlessly rolling boulder close behind them. If they slowed down for even a second it would roll right over them.

Together they rolled out of its way and onto the staircase, the boulder flew off the end of the ramp and slammed into the open mouth of the magma spewing dragon. It jammed up the statue's mouth and blocked the spewing magma. They saw a door that had been hidden behind the waterfall of magma.

They were sprawled out on the stone floor panting. They stayed for a moment taking in what happened and getting over their initial shock. They both stood and groaned as they staggered towards the now accessible pathway.

Link looked over the door "I think we have to put the dragon statue in there."

Summer nodded, and they fit the golden dragon statue in like a sort of key.

As soon as the key clicked they heard something from above and looked up. The dragon head above them moved its jaw and snapped shut. Almost like it swallowed the bolder that clogged up its mouth. The stone maw of the sculpture stayed shut.

They looked at each other and shrugged. They turned towards the golden doors and began to push them open.

They entered a smoke-filled long room, far larger than the last. Only it was much longer as opposed to wider.

There was a pathway from the doors that led to a curved staircase. The path way was lined with a tall golden fence, and the gold had been sculpted into symbols of the sun, and at the middle of these sun's where brilliant gems of jade. Tall engraved columns stood along the pathway with the fence and extended towards the ceiling.

As they ascended the stairs they saw on the ceiling hung the ribcage of a huge and long dragon. The ribcage snaked its way to the back of the room where another dragon head was mounted. They heard another rumble from above and they looked up to see the bolder that chased them down the ramp roll inside the ribcage. The bolder went through the ribcage like a tunnel till it hit the back of the room.

The curved stairs stopped at a round platform circled by more jade. Their eyes settled upon a mound of broken, old rusted chains that lay on the floor.

"Mistress, I am picking up Nick's aura in the surrounding area." Lux claimed.

"Master, we are also sensing an especially strong presence among those chains. Your friends were likely bound by them." Fi added.

"I conclude your friends likely escaped and proceed along this path. I suggest you hurry." Lux finished and the two teens felt energy return to them in the form of rage.

The path ended abruptly in a drop to another path below them. The lower path was lined with jagged rocks of uncut jade and instead of stairs it turned to a large steep ramp upwards. They were more than halfway up the ramp when they heard a subtly familiar devilish bout of chuckling.

Their heads shot up to the dragon head mounted to the back of the room. On the top of it stood the Demon Lord Ghirahim in all his grandeur.

Ghirahim flipped his hair and focused his gaze on the teens.

"Oh, it's you two." He said it as if he was greeting an over talkative acquaintance at some party.

"Let me think for a moment… Oh my… this is quite embarrassing, but I seem at a loss as to the names you bear. Not that it will really matter much soon. To be frank with you, I am feeling quite frustrated, and it would be so nice to have two pairs of highly sensitive Hylian ears to rant to." He sighed and placed a regal gloved hand upon his chest.

"I heard my underlings had finally hunted down the shrouded knight and spirit maiden. So naturally I rushed myself all the way here. Why I was positively ecstatic. I guess one could even say a bit flustered. But what news beheld my arrival? The agent of the goddess…" Ghirahim's voice dropped dangerously low, if it were not for their sensitive ears they wouldn't have heard him say anything.

"She had once more… well you see what I'm trying to articulate, as too accurately depict my feelings about the matter…" The demon lord whispered, and his voice suddenly spiked into a wail that echoed and bounced around in the huge room.

"THAT GODDESS-SERVING DOG HAD SWIPED THEM FROM RIGHT UNDER MY FINGERTIPS! I SIMPLY MUST have the spirit maiden and shrouded knight in order to bring forth my master once again! I MUST HAVE THEM!" He demanded and took a second to settle down. He stood up properly again and placed a hand on his hip.

"I do apologize, I got quite carried away there… didn't I? I am quite passionate and meticulous on this whole matter… so I don't fair well when my plans have been threatened. I guess you could call it somewhat of a character flaw of mine. Ah, but something can still be reaped from this day! I have bottled up anger smoldering inside my being, just like the magma smolders in this volcano. I must erupt it all out, and now I have the perfect opportunity to dispel it. There is someone I must introduce you too, and don't be shy! I really need to just deactivate this unhealthy fury. Watching you writhe in agony would be just so soothing, wouldn't it? And it won't hurt you at all! You won't have to be with my loyal friend here for long. He will have you charred to a satisfying crisp in no time! And let me be the one to tell you upfront how much better I'll feel after that!" Ghirahim nodded and let the sliver of a smile creep to his face. He snapped his fingers as if calling a servant over, and he disappeared in a fleeting flurry of diamonds.

They heard a roar permeate the room and the dragon's jaw unhinged, and out rolled that same damned boulder. It began to roll down the ramp in a repeat of before and they dived out of its way. They sat up and saw it slam into the upper path and cause an explosion of fire and rock.

The dust cleared and the boulder was covered in cracks. A glowing ball of magma began to churn within the rock and six spindly legs made of the fire and some form of dark magic shot out of the beast. The legs flailed around trying to find some traction. The monster pulled itself up and steadied. A giant split of rock suddenly appeared and broke open to show a strange sort of mouth for the monster and it tested its new roar, then it roared again with its full power. Fire and spark shot from its body and soon became recognizable as the great monster Scaldra.

The heroes scrambled up the ramp and Scaldra quickly gave chase after them. They carefully avoided the cerulean colored bomb flowers that were scattered on the path, and they came to the top. They turned to see the clunky monster and Summer fired an arrow at a bomb flower right in front of the beast. The explosion sent the beast tumbling down the ramp.

Link collapsed to his knees panting and moaning in pain. Summer watched as Scaldra began to release balls of fire from its mouth that shot straight at them.

Summer dragged Link out of the line of fire and to the side. They felt their adrenaline and other instinctual hormones kick in as they tried to formulate a plan.

"The monster is weak against explosions." Summer told Link. She was firing arrows at the bomb flowers by the monster, which trapped it at the bottom of the ramp.  
"I bet if we can get an explosion to go off internally then it'll do major damage." Link deduced.

"He sucks air strongly before he uses one of those fire attacks, and he only does those when he is at the bottom of the ramp. I'll use my arrows to keep him down there. If you're brave enough to get very close to it, I want you to try to get it to suck up a bomb before it shoots the fire." Summer commanded and Link nodded.

Link weaved his way between the balls of fire as he dashed closer to the beast. True to her word, Summer kept it at the bottom and kept it busy shooting the fire. Before it was about to fire again Link scooped up a bomb flower and flung it straight into the monster's open maw.

Link shielded himself as rock exploded off Scaldra's body. The rocks revealed a single crazed blue ringed eye.  
"That's its weak point!" Summer screamed at Link and he charged at the beast with his sword while it was stunned on the ground. The eye shifted under the other rocks on its body to avoid Link's sword attacks.

"We have to keep doing this till all the rock's gone!" Link screamed at Summer through his searing ash filled lungs and throat.

"Got it!" She coughed out and wiped her watering eyes.

They repeated the process, and sent another bomb down its fiery gullet. Chunk by chunk, the last of its rocky armor was exploded off. The thing that was left was a white flaming ball of magma and held together by malicious magic. Summer began firing one arrow after another at the Scaldra's eye while Link slashed away with his sword.

The particles in the unforgiving volcanic air acted like knives upon their skin with every move they made. The sweltering relentless heat bore down upon Link. With a last burst of hormone raged fueled energy Link thrust his blade into the eye. Scaldra veered its ugly head and stumbled around on its spiderly legs. It screeched its final agony filled death wishes into the air before it collapsed to the ground. It's body melted away and Link stumbled back up the ramp.

The adrenaline had melted away, and neither of them could see, think, or even walk straight. Their arms were like dead weights from their shoulders, and they hung their heads low.

Summer supported Link as they both staggered toward the golden door, but she was pretty unstable herself. Obviously, the demon lord had underestimated them, but not by much.

Bearing the weight of their bodies they pushed through the now unlocked golden door. They were thrust into a new foreign world.

The heat receded from their bodies and the cool misty air descended upon their charred skin. Glorious water spilled from the little lake and surrounded the stunning marble path way. A nostalgic tune hung in the air, and eased the minds of the youths, they knew immediately those where the melodies of Zelda's holy harp.

The pain fell away those as they set sights on their friends, but a few strides away from where they stood. The light from the scorching sun above bounced off of the crystal mirror of the water and reflected on three people, bathing them in a holy sight.

Zelda finished her delicate plucking, and the water seemed to flow in time with her notes. The waterfalls crashed gently into the small lake of water. Her hair was free of the hair wraps, and was shining like strands made of pure yellow gold. Her front chunks of hair were held by strange hair bands that appeared to be made from some sort of light blue crystal. Her dress was no longer the rich pink, but now a long elegant white, and it reached to her ankles. Long sleeves were tight over her arm until her elbow where they fell free and the ends of the sleeves fell down to reach her knees. She also wore crystal sandals and wrist bands. All the crystal was of a blue color, like it was crafted of the gem aquamarine.

There was another woman with them, a tall lean woman. She had a small chest and an even smaller waist, but they had never seen anyone quite so tall. Most of her ivory hair was very short, but one chunk of hair had been allowed to grow out and fell nearly to her hip. Her skin was tan and smooth, and on her forehead was a red-painted eye with a teardrop, much like the eye symbol they had seen before. She wore a deep dark blue outfit, with no sleeves. It was tight on her torso but past her hips they it turned into loose baggy pants, and golden patterns adorned her clothing. A thick red belt was wrapped tightly around her hips, and a few large feathers hung from the belt on her right side. She wore strange sandals that came up tall like boots, and her fore arms were wrapped up like fighting wraps. She was the woman in black who had made the bridge for them to cross.

Nick wore a small regal crown crafted of black gold and encrusted on the crown was brilliant amethysts. Summer had never seen his green eyes quite so somber and grave. He had a black cloak draped over his shoulders and connected by the symbol of Skyloft, and an upside down triangle. The cloak covered up a majority of the rest of his outfit, but you could see some of a regal purple tunic, and silver pants under it. His usual boots seemed a bit more touched up as well. He was the first one to notice the heroes walk in.

As the notes from Zelda's harp faded a bright white light appeared in the center of the platform, and the tall woman held her arm to it as if to say 'after you'. Zelda took a few steps towards the light.

"Summer! Link!" Nick's face broke out into a grin seeing his friend and brother, though they may have been battered and bruised, they were still smiling. Zelda stepped back and turned around, flipping her glossy hair in the process. She looked like an angel.

Link and Summer looked like the scrapings of the street when compared to their friends who looked so godly. As Link stepped forward on his own his left leg gave way and he nearly collapsed. Summer caught him, but she was struggling to stand herself.

"Link!" Zelda grinned and began to rush towards them, while Nick almost charged down the stairs to their aid.

The tall woman held out her long arm to stop them both, and cut their joyful reunion short. Zelda's face turned to hurt while Nick's turned to anger.

"You two may not go to them. Your Highnesses, remember what had discussed. Restrain yourselves, and remember to focus on the urgent tasks at hand." She explained and the heroes stood in utter shock at the foot of the staircase. Zelda bit her lip and bitterly stepped back.

Nick allowed his eyes to connect with Summer's, and it was shocking how soft and crystal they looked. He had never known Summer to be one to beg, and he had never seen the queen quite so roughed up.

"Can't you at least me heal them a little?" Nick asked.

"No, you're only wasting time Your Majesty." She replied sternly.

Nick wasn't about to stop, "Look at them! That's my brother and my best friend down there! Please just let me…" Zelda cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder. He tore his gaze from Summer and turned towards the light with her. They both casted fleeting glances back at their friends.

"I have to go you two, I'm sorry." Zelda apologized.

"Please, forgive me." Nick sighed. The pair stepped into the white light and disappeared.

The heroes grew suddenly very desperate and hurried up the stairs ignoring their protesting pains. The woman turned and gave the sharpest glare any creature could produce. Her ruby colored eyes bore into them like a bloody knife. She held up her arm to command them to stop moving.

"It took far too long for your arrival here. Looking upon your sad sorry selves I fear that the goddess and angel have been mistaken in their choice of heroes. If this pathetic display is any proof, than you have no hope of ever being able to protect the royals from the forces who which to seize them." She mocked them, but their shock didn't allow for them to respond to her sharp words.

"What, do my words not anger you, weaklings? Do my words sting? Good, they are the truth. If I had not arrived when I did, your friends would have been in the hands of the demons. The truth is you were late, You failed to protect them. I sent them ahead to learn more of their fates in the destiny of this land. Listen well, chosen ones, if you wish to be of any help to Their Majesties, you must summon a shred of courage and face the challenges laid before you. Only when you actually have enough power to conquer them will you be of any use to your friends. No sooner. Am I understood?" She sneered.

Summer and Link took these words in and the woman seemed satisfied. She turned and walked confidently into the light. The light disappeared along with their friends.

Summer looked to the floor, "She's right you know."

* * *

**Author's note: In the next chapter I will tackle the desert and mining faculty. Any reviews/questions are welcomed and appreciated. If you want a chapter up quicker your best bet would be to review and that usually inspires me to hurry it up more. Thank you all for reading! (P.S. No more deadlines)**


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